ANTLER AND FERN. 95 



with the growth and condition of his antlers 

 that it may be said to begin and end with 

 them. Before they are high enough to be 

 dignified as horns the young male deer runs 

 with the hinds and herds with them. There 

 is little difference in their appearance, and 

 it sometimes happens in the hind-hunting 

 season that a young male deer is chased 

 for some time till the mistake is discovered. 

 The outline of the face is broader and 

 shorter a hind's face looks longer and by 

 this the heads may be distinguished. As 

 he grows older, and the antlers each season 

 become larger, the deer leaves the hinds 

 and joins the stags, feeding and harbouring 

 in company with one of them. At last a 

 full-grown stag, he is in his turn master, 

 and has a companion, as it were, to fag 

 for him. In his old age the antlers each 

 year diminish in points and size, the beam 

 becomes thinner, and from four on top the 



