OF THE STAG AND HIS NATURE. 2 



o 



has a peculiarly disturbing effect on horses if close 

 at hand. 



The sound is not easy to describe ; it differs 

 entirely from the bellow of a bull or the roar of any 

 beast of prey, though it sometimes ends in a succes- 

 sion of short coughs, such as a lion gives when he is 

 really angry. It is emitted through the mouth, not the 

 nostrils ; the head is usually held high, with the nose 

 thrust forward ; the fore feet are held wide apart and 

 rather forward, as if to resist pressure from behind, 

 and, indeed, the whole muscular power of the body 

 seems to be used to drive the air from the lungs 

 through the mouth, the most noticeable point being 

 a strong vibration in the sound, which makes it 

 audible at a great distance. One may hear the stags 

 belling any October evening in the woodlands round 

 Exmoor, and occasionally in the daytime, but it is 

 not easy to get a chance of watching one at close 

 quarters. This the writer was lucky enough to do 

 recently in an enclosed park, and, a due retreat being 

 secured, was able to stand within a few yards of a 

 grand stag, carrying all his rights and three on top, 

 who was so absorbed in defying his enemy that he was 

 oblivious of all else. The coughs sometimes heard 

 appear to be terms of abuse, for the stag would run 

 forward a yard or so in a crouching attitude, and then 

 suddenly throw up his head and give two or three 

 short coughs and stamp his fore foot. The whole 

 action and attitude were intensely provocative and 

 insulting, and generally had the effect of making the 



