30 CHASE OF THE WILD RED DEER 



the four-year old deer (not invariably, however, 

 as in some stags the ' bay ' is never thrown out ; in 

 others it will be found on one horn but not on the 

 other), and two points or brockets on the top of one 

 horn. At six, the stag has the points or ' rights ' 

 before named, with two points on top of each horn. 

 At seven years he has all his 'rights,' with three 

 points on the top of one horn and two on the other ; 

 and at eight years old he has three points on top of 

 each horn. He is then known to the sportsman 

 as a stag- with 'three on top,' and is frequently, 

 though erroneously, called a royal hart. After the 

 age of seven or eight years the alteration in the 

 horns becomes less marked than it was before that 

 age. Generally speaking, however, the ' beam ' 

 or main horn increases in size and length as the 

 stag grows older — the horn becomes wider in its 

 spread and more serrated or gnarled on its surface, 

 the points or rights become longer ; and in some 

 very old stags the top of the beam spreads so 

 as to become, to a certain extent, palmated, and 

 the points borne on the palm or cup increase in 

 number. I have seen as many as seven points on 

 the top of a very old stag's horn. An old stag, 

 long known as the Badgeworthy Deer, had seven 

 on top of one horn, and six on the other, when 



