FALLOW DEER (Cervus dama] 



FALLOW deer are usually divided into three varieties, the light- 

 coloured, the black, and the white. Personally, however, I divide 

 them into at least ten varieties, the "points" of which are enumerated 

 below. As there are no names for these various varieties, or rather 

 sub-divisions of the usual varieties, I have invented the following 

 titles for them. 



No. i. "The Spotted." 



This variety should be fully spotted, but since in deer-parks 

 generally the deer are allowed to interbreed indiscriminately, while 

 when shot it is the fattest that are selected for the table, or the best 

 head chosen for the wall, the " Spotted " variety has become dete- 

 riorated. The following are its points : 



Colour as bright an orange as possible, belly, legs, rump, and 

 throat white, no stripe down the back, or if a stripe be present it 

 should be as faint and light in colour as possible ; the stripe down 

 the tail also very faint, the neck as near orange as possible, very 

 little grey about the head, body spotted as much and as evenly 

 with as big white spots as possible, and a distinct white horizontal 

 line along each side. Horns, when in velvet, covered with light 

 French-grey coloured velvet (in all varieties of fallow deer the 

 horns to be as large and palmated as possible), and with the back- 

 point well developed. As the result of in-breeding, in many parks 



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