68 MOUNTAIN AND MOORLAND 



very hard time of it, especially in winter. At that 

 time they often wander restlessly seeking" food both 

 night and day, and we have known starving Deer 

 come down begging to the houses of the village ; we 

 have known them swallow small Rabbits ! In the 

 summer, when pasture is abundant, they have a com- 

 fortable life, and they rest in hiding during the heat 

 of the day. We do not mean, of course, that they are 

 lacking in adaptations, such as a thick, close-set coat, 

 extraordinarily keen senses of smell, sight, and hear- 

 ing, and great swiftness of foot. They are also 

 strong swimmers, easily able to cross broad rivers 

 and lakes. But the clearing of the forests has made 

 life difficult for the Red Deer. There is convincing 

 evidence that the size of the antlers is less than it 

 used to be in olden times. 



Some of their peculiarities are interesting. We 

 have known them travel a long distance to get an 

 early morning lick at the rocks on the seashore, for 

 they are very fond of salt. There is no doubt that 

 they gnaw at their cast-off antlers. 



The Fallow Deer (Cervus dama) is mostly a park 

 animal nowadays, though there are some nearly wild 

 herds here and there. It is smaller than the Red 

 Deer, the full-grown buck standing about a yard high 

 at the withers; the antlers are quite different, being 

 flattened or palmated towards the top; there are 

 usually, though not always, rows of white spots on 

 the yellowish-brown hide; the tail is about six inches 

 long, that of the Red Deer being much shorter. Fal- 

 low Deer are gregarious all the year, but the bucks 

 and does are usually in separate bands. There is a 

 combination at the beginning of winter, which may 



