DEER. 243 



are still to be found in the wild state in three districts of 

 England, but are elsewhere confined to the Scottish Highlands 

 and some of the wilder parts of Ireland. In the west of 

 England there are a considerable number in Devonshire and 

 Somersetshire, the herd being estimated at about two hundred 

 and fifty head in 1871. Martindale Fell, in Westmoreland, is 

 likewise one of the last strongholds of the species, although the 

 number of head now remaining is comparatively small ; and as 

 these Deer are fed in winter they can hardly be considered as 

 absolutely wild. According to the Hon. G. Lascelles, some 

 fifteen or twenty head still remain in the New Forest. About 

 a century ago there were wild Red Deer in Cornwall ; and all 

 readers of Gilbert White must be familiar with his description 

 of the Deer in Wolmer Forest, in Hampshire, which, in the 

 time of Queen Anne, numbered about five hundred head. 

 Tame Red Deer are now kept in eighty-six English parks, 

 out of which Batminton has the largest herd. In most of these 

 parks Fallow Deer are also kept, but in Blenheim (Oxfordshire), 

 Bolton Abbey (Yorkshire), Barmingham (Yorkshire), and Calcot 

 (Berkshire), Red Deer alone are kept. In a few English parks, 

 namely, Alnwick; Ashridge, Langley, Welbeck, Windsor, and 

 Woburn, there is a white or cream-coloured variety of the Red 

 Deer, in which the nose is flesh-coloured, while the eyes are 

 either pale blue or straw-coloured. The origin of this breed 

 is quite unknown. It may be remarked here that formerly 

 there was a prejudice against keeping Red and Fallow Deer in 

 the same park, as it was thought they would disagree ; but 

 this is now ascertained to be a mistaken idea. 



It will be unnecessary to refer to the distribution of the 

 Red Deer in the Scottish Highlands, but it may be mentioned 

 that even in comparatively recent times the range of the species 

 extended to the south-west of Scotland. Deer are indigenous 

 to the island of Mull, though there have been several impor- 



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