THE ANTLERS OF THE RED -DEER 

 ORNAMENTS OR WEAPONS? 



A GREAT many fine heads have fallen in the High- 

 lands during the past month, which in due course 

 will take their place as decorative elements in 

 the homes of Britain. In what light should their 

 owners regard them? Are they defensive weapons 

 like the horns of the buffalo, or decorative equip- 

 ment like the tail coverts .of the peacock? 

 Curiously enough the question is not so easily 

 answered as it seems. 



It can be said confidently, however, that the 

 horns of the deer are not in the same category 

 with the horns of the buffalo or of any other 

 ruminant, while it is highly probable that their 

 history in the development of the race is as 

 different from these as it certainly is in the history 

 of the individual. The horns of all the other 

 ruminants are permanent, and they are present 

 on both sexes. This means that they are defensive 

 weapons in the fullest sense. Those of all the 

 deer, with the single exception of the reindeer, 

 are confined to the male sex, and they are shed 

 annually. The winter, too, is the season when 

 they are absent. Now, most deer are natives of 



