So RED DEER 



inor control, the walls and hedges are nothing 

 to him — he roams where he chooses, as fancy 

 leads, and gathers the food that pleases him. 



Pillaging the crops and claiming his dues 

 from the orchards and gardens, he exercises 

 his ancient feudal rights, indifferent to the 

 laws of house-people. Disturb him in his 

 wild stronghold of oak wood or heather, and, 

 as he yields to force, still he stops and looks 

 back proudly. He is slain, but never con- 

 quered. He will not cross with the tame 

 park deer ; proud as a Spanish noble he dis- 

 dains the fallow deer, and breeds only with 

 his own race Hut it is chiefly because of his 

 singular adaptation and fitness to the places 

 where he is found that he obtains our sym- 

 pathy. 



The branching antlers accord so well 

 with the deep shadowy boughs and the 

 broad fronds of the brake ; the golden red 

 of his coat fits to the foxglove, the purple 

 heather, and later on to the orange and red 

 of the beech ; his easy bounding motion 



