172 RED DEER. 



ing from the antler on the side the three 

 are carried. If there are three on top both 

 sides then the bay point is missing from both 

 antlers. The number of points, too, some- 

 what depends upon the time of year at 

 which the calf was dropped ; if dropped late 

 in the year (as happens now and then) at 

 five years the stag would carry one point 

 less than another born very early in the 

 spring. 



These facts are not only known from ob- 

 servation, but have been substantiated by 

 experiment Captured calves have been ear- 

 marked, and the marks found several seasons 

 afterward, so that the condition of the 

 antlers at a given age has been accurately 

 ascertained. The horns of those stags that 

 lie and feed in more enclosed places, where 

 the food is abundant, have the beam thicker 

 than it appears on the heads of those that 

 lie on the moors. When six years old a 



