236 THE HISTOET OF ANIMALS. [B. II. 



CHAPTEE Y. 



1. Cows pasture in herds, and in companies, and if one of 

 them wanders to a distance, all the rest follow, so that the 

 herdsmen, if they do not find her, immediately examine all 

 the herds. Mares in herds, if one of them happens to die, 

 will bring up her foal among them, and the whole race of 

 horses appears to have warm natural affections, of which the 

 following is a proof : the barren mares will take away the 

 foals from their mothers, and treat them with affection, 

 though they soon die for want of milk. 



i 

 CHAPTEE VI. 



1. OF all wild quadrupeds, the deer appears to be one of the 

 most prudent in producing its young by the wayside (where 

 wild beasts do not come, for fear of men) ; as soon as the young 

 is born, the dam eats the chorion, and runs to the plant 

 called seselis, which she eats, and having so done, returns to her 

 kid. She then leads her kid to the station, to which it may 

 learn to retreat in case of danger ; this is usually a chasm 

 in a rock with a single entrance, which they say that it 

 stays and defends. When the male gets fat (which usually 

 happens in the autumn) he does not show himself, but gets 

 out of the way, for his fat makes him an easy prey. He 

 sheds his horns in difficult and scarcely accessible places, 

 from whence arises the proverb, " where the stag sheds its 

 horns," for they are afraid of being seen, as if they had lost 

 their means of defence. It is said that the left horn never 

 has been seen, for he conceals it as if it had some medicinal 

 power. 



2. "When a year old they have no horns, but only a com- 

 mencement, as it were a sign of what is to be ; this is short, 

 and covered with thick down. When two years old, they 

 have straight horns, like sticks, for which reason they are 

 called pattalia (from TarraXo?, a stake). In the third year 

 their horns are divided. In the fourth year they become 

 rough. In this manner they are regularly developed till 

 they are six years old. After this age their horns are al- 

 ways the same, so that their age cannot be distinguished by 

 them. Old stags, however, are recognised by two- signs ; 

 Borne of them have no teeth at all, others only a few ; and 



