DEER KIND. 307 



As soon as the stags have shed their horns* 

 they separate from each other, and seek the 

 plainer parts of the country, remote from every 

 other animal, which they are utterly unable to 

 oppose. They then walk with their heads stoop- 

 ing down, to keep their horns from .striking 

 against the branches of the trees above. In this 

 state of imbecility they continue near three 

 months before their heads have acquired their 

 full growth and solidity ; and then, by rubbing 

 them against the branches of every thicket, they 

 at length clear them of the skin which had con- 

 tributed to their growth and nourishment. It is 

 said by some that the horn takes the colour of 

 the sap of the tree against which it is rubbed ; 

 and that some thus become red when rubbed 

 against the heath, and others brown by rubbing 

 against the oak : this, however, is a mistake, 

 since stags kept in parks where there are no 

 trees, have a variety in the colour of their horns, 

 which can be ascribed to nothing but nature. 

 A short time after they have furnished their 

 horns, they begin to feel the impressions of the 

 rut, or the desire of copulation. The old ones 

 are the most forward j and about the end of 

 August, or the beginning of September, they 

 quit their thickets, and return to the mountain 

 in order to seek the hind, to whom they call 

 with a loud tremulous note. At this time their 

 neck is swoln ; they appear bold and furious ; fly 

 from country to country ; strike with their horns 

 against the trees and other obstacles, and conti- 

 nue restless and fierce until they have found the 



