WAYS OF RED DEER. 117 



lie down in the daytime, and the wheat, 

 then at its highest, hides them. 



The colour of their red-gold coats shades 

 well with the ripe corn, and, unless their 

 antlers or their marks be seen, they may 

 be unnoticed if any one does pass. They 

 do not bite the ears of wheat off, but take 

 three or four straws at once in the mouth 

 and lift their heads, drawing the ears through 

 their teeth, and so stripping each ear as if 

 it had been threshed out standing. There 

 is not a grain left in the ear, and after 

 eight or ten stags have been at this work 

 for a few days it is easy to imagine what 

 a state the crop is left in. For such de- 

 predations heavy compensation is paid by 

 the hunt. 



The deer are fond, too, of oats, and 

 eat them ripe in exactly the same way ; 

 oats strip easily when drawn through their 

 mouths. They will eat barley occasionally 



