168 RED DEER. 



close, and the hunt can be intercepted by 

 crossing it. Stags in particular districts 

 have their favourite routes, and generally 

 take the same line ; so much is this the 

 case, that, the meet being fixed, an old 

 sportsman can predict the course the stag 

 will probably follow, and even the time the 

 hounds will return to kennel. There are 

 now, however, so many outlying deer, and 

 the deer-country has become so extended of 

 recent years, that it is difficult to say what 

 line a stag may take when the meet is 

 outside the ancient limits. It is supposed 

 that a stag takes the course he has been 

 accustomed to follow at night. 



He almost always starts on a well-known 

 path, and follows it for some distance, and 

 his after-course depends upon his individual 

 knowledge of the country. The hounds fre- 

 quently force stags into districts with which 

 they are unacquainted, and the huntsman 



