94 RED DEER. 



hollow and will hold a glass of wine. Pipe- 

 bowls are made of the butt-end of the beam. 

 Besides being his' weapons of offence the 

 horns to some extent are the stag's armour. 

 As he starts he throws his head well back, 

 and the horns fit each side of his neck or 

 shoulder, and so guard him from the thick 

 thorn bushes into which he often plunges. 

 Young hounds sometimes seize the antler, 

 but quickly leave hold. The new horns, as 

 before observed, begin to grow with the 

 brake fern, and the velvet is rubbed off 

 towards the end of July, or beginning of 

 August, so that they take four months to 

 come to this complete state. At the same 

 time the hart or stag sheds his coat, and 

 in June appears in his full red-gold colour. 



In October again, as the stag-hunting 

 ceases, the horns are employed in fighting, 

 the stags then combating for their lady-loves. 

 The life of a stag is indeed so bound up 



