TRACKING DEER BY SLOT. 103 



His ' bed ' — the space he selects to lie in 

 for the day — is usually on the most level piece 

 of ground he can find in the copse. He does 

 not mind if it is a little damp, so long as it is 

 level. He merely lies down like a bullock, and 

 makes no nest as a fox will, turning round and 

 round till the grasses are fitted to his body. 

 But as the stag will lie in the same place day 

 after day, there is a depression in the fern or 

 grasses corresponding to his size. When he 

 has settled himself down he is said to be ' in 

 harbour,' and it is curious that if once a stag 

 has chosen a part of the copse, the next that 

 comes will generally go and lie very near the 

 same spot, though the first stag may have 

 left it weeks. 



Hot summer weather makes a stag pant, 

 and it is often possible to hear him blowing and 

 knocking the flies off in the heat of the day. 

 Two or three times in the clay he gets up, goes 

 a little way, and returns. Sometimes he goes 

 down to drink, but always comes back to his 

 ' bed.' Those stags that frequent the hills in 



