OF RED DEER. 3 



The Barbary or African deer also ( Cervus Mauritanicus) 

 is still more at variance with our stags than the hart of 

 Asia: he has large ears, very muscular arms, and is 

 altogether shorter in the legs; and although the sweep 

 of the beam partakes somewhat of the graceful curve of 

 the red deer, yet he never at any age has the second antler 

 growing in the place usual with ours, but only a brow 

 one, and another issuing from the position where the tray 

 antler grows in the Scottish deer. He has two, or perhaps 

 occasionally more points at the extremity of each horn. 

 He casts his horns much earlier than the red deer; the 

 one at present exhibited in Regent's Park having shed 

 them on the 29th of January, whereas our stags begin to 

 lose them about the commencement of April. 



As to gradation of size, the red deer is the smallest ; 

 next comes the Barbary deer ; then that of the Himalaya 

 mountains, and the Sambur deer of India ; lastly the 

 wapiti, which is incomparably larger than the others, and 

 indeed immense. 



The colour of our Scotch deer varies slightly, but when 

 in season is usually of a reddish brown, nearly black about 

 the face, mingled with grey ; a dark list down the hind 

 part of the neck and between the shoulders, and a light 

 sort of buff colour between the haunches and under- 

 neath. 



The horns vary in size and number of their branches ; 

 partly owing to the age of the animal, and partly from 

 other causes; and it must be remarked, that deer with 

 few points to their horns are sometimes larger and fatter 

 than those with many branches. In the forest of Atholl 



