THE STAG. 45 



whose young a calf,) differs both in size and horns from 

 the fallow deer ; he is much larger, and his horns are 

 round ; but in the fallow kind they are broad and pal- 

 mated. The first year the stag has no horns, but a small 

 excrescence on the head, which is short, rough, and 

 covered with a hairy skin : the next, they bud out single 

 and straight; the third they attain two antlers ; three, 

 the fourth; four, the fifth ; and five, the sixth : this 

 number is not always to be relied upon, for sometimes 

 there are more, and at other less ; therefore the ani- 

 mal's age may be more accurately estimated by the size 

 of the antlers, and the thickness of the branch that sus- 

 tains them, than by the number to which they amount. 

 During the time of shedding their horns, which with 

 the old ones is in the beginning of March, but with the 

 young ones not till the middle or latter end of May, 

 they regularly divide from the rest of their class, and, 

 instead of herding together in forests, wander solitary 

 over the plains, in an apparent state of dejection and 

 imbecility, and seeming most cautiously to guard their 

 heads. 



As soon as these natural ornaments are renewed, the 

 creature returns to its old habits of life, again rejoins 

 his sportive companions, and seems sensible to the 

 pleasures of social delights. Of all the animals that are 

 natives of this climate, none can boast of such beautiful 

 eyes as the stag ; they are at once sparkling, soft, and 

 intelligent, and his sense of smelling and hearing are 

 no less to be admired. Whenever he ventures upon un- 

 known ground, he stops at its skirt, both to examine and 

 attend ; then turns against the wind and sniffs up the 

 current, and by that means discovers an enemy's ap- 

 proach . 



The stag is five years arriving at perfection, and sel- 



