ANTLER AND FERN. 79 



leap to the top, which is always broad, and 

 then down the other side. Hinds get their 

 forefeet it is inconvenient to write slot 

 always on the top of the wall, and their 

 hind hoofs dig into the earth and loose 

 stone, making a sort of step. 



They soon open a gap in the hedge on 

 the top of the wall by going through so 

 often, night after night, always at the same 

 spot, and the step becomes well marked. 

 By this step in the wall the calf climbs up, 

 and follows his mother ; he could not spring 

 on to the top at once, and the hinds choose 

 the best places they can for their young to 

 get over. The pennyworts are crushed, the 

 fern broken down, and the red sand of the 

 bank dug out; while on the top a gap 

 called a rack is formed through the beech 

 hedge. By these racks the hinds and calves 

 pass from the moors into the cultivated 

 fields. Near the covers and coombes where 



