xxn THE DEER 355 



late Prince Consort were staying at Blair Castle, and the wind 

 being favourable, several thousand deer were driven successfully to 

 the desired spot, upon the hill-face opposite Ben-y-Gloe. Such an 

 assemblage of wild animals could not have been seen in any other 

 part of Scotland, but during winter the food for so vast a number 

 was insufficient, and the deer upon that forest have dwindled 

 through overstocking. 



At Dunrobin, much farther north, the deer are larger, especially 

 those which occupy the woods at the foot of the hills. Twenty 

 years ago, when, a guest of his Grace the Duke of Sutherland, 

 enjoying some deer-stalking upon the hills, I was struck with the 

 superiority in the size of the deer compared with those of Blair ; 

 this was due to smaller numbers, better food, and sheHer of large 

 woods, to which they could retire during winter; 17 and 18 stone 

 were not extraordinary weights for stags of ten or twelve years old. 



It is a curious fact that the rutting season commences with the 

 hard frosts of October, after which the deer are out of season. 

 With other animals this sexual excitement is the result of warm 

 weather, or early spring, when birds and creatures of all kinds, 

 released from the icy fetters of the winter, commence their loves 

 in the warm hopes of approaching summer. 



When October arrives, the stags begin to bellow, the hair of 

 the neck grows coarse and long ; they fight with great fury to 

 obtain the mastery of the hinds, until the master stag, having 

 gained the ascendency through frequent combats, associates with 

 the females, and becomes a ragged -looking object, far different 

 from the grand appearance which marked him as the lordly hart 

 at the first commencement of his amours. 



It is generally believed that all deer shed their antlers annually, 

 but this is not the case. Both the red and the fallow deer shed 

 their horns in spring. The huge wapiti of America does the same, 

 but the sambur of India is supposed to change its horns only once 

 in three years. There is no regular season, either in India or 

 Ceylon, but the same species may be killed throughout the year 

 with the horns in different degrees of development. 



In forest countries the stags are very careful in their movements 

 during the early stages of their antlers. When these first sprout, 

 they somewhat resemble the thick stalk of rhubarb, as they push 

 boldly from the root with a round, blunt termination, covered with 

 a glistening cuticle. These growing horns are very sensitive, and 

 the stag has a strong objection to pushing its way through tangled 

 thickets. I have known localities among the lofty mountains in 

 Ceylon, beneath bare precipices of rocks, where plateaux at lower 



