184 SHOOTIXG, 



they may appear at other times, they then seem agitated with an 

 uncommon degree of ardour ; they paAV up the earth, and menace 

 their opponent ^vith their horns, bellowing with all their force, 

 and striking in a desperate manner against each other, _ seeming 

 determined upon death or victory, /Ihis pombat continues till 

 one of _ them is defeated or flies, and it oft-times happens that the 

 victor is obliged to fight several of these battles before he becomes 

 the uiidistui'bed master of the field. The old ones are generally the 

 conquerors upon these occasions, as they have more strength and ■ 

 greater courage, and they are preferred by the hind to the younger, 

 the latter being more feeble and less ardent. 



The stag or red deer is common in Europe, Barbary, the north of 

 Asia, _ and North America ; it abounds_ in the southern parts of 

 Siberia, where it grows to an immense size, but is now extirpated 

 in Russia. _ It hves in herds, and there is generally one male which 

 is supreme in each herd. 



The stag possesses a fine eye, an acute smell, and an excellent ear ; 

 like that of the cat and the owl, the eye of the stag contracts in the 

 light, and dilates in the dark, but with this difference, that the con- 

 traction and dilatation are horizontal, while in the first-mentioned 

 animals they are vertical. 



When deer are thirsty, they plunge their noses, like some horses, 

 very deep under water while in the act of drinktag, and continue 

 them in that situation for a considerable time. 



The number of teeth of the various species of deer and the ante- 

 lope tribe, is generally thirty-two, namelvj eight cuttmg teeth in 

 the lower jaw, six molar teeth on each sicle of these, and six molar 

 teeth on each side in the upper jaw j but there are frequent excep- 

 tions to tliis rule. 



The cry of the hind or female is not so loud as that of the male, 

 and is never excited but by apprehension for herself or her young. 

 It need scarcely be mentioned that she has no horns, or that she 

 is more feeble or uufit for hunting than the male. When once she j 

 has conceived, she separates from the males, and then they both ' 

 herd apart. The time of gestation contmues eight months and a j 

 few days, and they seldom produce more tlian one at a birth. Then* 1 

 usual season for bringing forth is about the month of May, or the 

 begianing of June. Tdey take the greatest care to secrete their 

 young in the most obscure thickets ; nor is the caution without 

 reason, as many creatures are their formidable enemies. The eagle, 

 the falcon, the ;^'olf, the dog, and all the rapacious family of the cat 

 kind, are contmually seeking to discover her retreat. But what 

 is more uimatural still, the stag himself is a professed enemy, 

 and she is obliged to use all her arts to conceal her young from him, 

 as from ilie most diuigerous of her pursuers. At this season, there- 

 fore, the courage of the male seems transferred to the female • she 

 defends her young agaiiist her less formidable opponents by force, 

 and, when i^ursued by the hmiter, she ofl'ers herself to mislead him 

 from the prmcipal object of his concern. She flies before the hounds 



