Ii8 RED DEER. 



if there is nothing else about, but not so 

 much ; the awn is troublesome to them. 

 They will get into rye-grass and damage it, 

 but very seldom touch a rick of hay. One 

 winter, when the ground was more than 

 usually bare, and there seemed absolutely 

 nothing for the sheep or ponies, a rick or 

 two of hay was pulled round the outside, 

 but this was exceptional. Stags jump so 

 well and are so bold that it is next to im- 

 possible to keep them out of anything they 

 fancy, and hinds climb over the highest 

 walls and fences. The beech hedges of the 

 country, as before described, grow on walls, 

 and are high and thick, but these are not 

 the least obstacle. 



The farmers place stakes in the hedges, 

 and hang a vine of straw along from stake 

 to stake a foot or so above the top of the 

 hedge. A vine is a rope of twisted straw ; 

 this in itself would not for a moment resist 



