BEASTS OF THE CHASE.— THE STAG. 39 



villages warning all persons against killing or injuring him ; and 

 he was placed under the surveillance of the harbourer, whose 

 special business it was to safeguard the exhausted animal until 

 its return to the forest was effected. It w^ould be well if the 

 same chivalrous spirit towards animals that have ministered to 

 our cravings for sport prevailed more generally in the present 

 unsentimental age. 



The colour of the Red Deer is for the most part a reddish 

 brown ; while from the tail, or, as it is technically termed, ' the 

 single,' underneath the body the colour becomes much lighter. 

 Strangely enough, the calves, up to their fifth or sixth month, 

 bear a very close resemblance in colour to the Fallow Deer. 



The Red Deer has ever been known by his horns, which 

 differ very materially from those of all other kinds of deer. 

 The horns, or, to use the technical term, ' the head,' consists 

 of a beam, from which points or processes project. The num- 

 ber of these points or antlers determine his age. The yearling 

 deer has no horns, but at two years old a short spire is thrown 

 out. This lengthens, and from its base, at the completion of 

 his third year, projects horizontally tow^ards the front, the 

 'brow antler.' At four years old the horns increase to nearly 

 eighteen inches in length, and another process, termed the 

 bay antler, is formed. At five years the tray antler is thrown 

 out, and two points appear on the top of one horn. At six 

 years old there are two points on each horn. At seven years, 

 one horn has three points and the other two. At eight years, 

 the stag wall have three points on each horn. When hunting, 

 the expression ' two on top ' and ' three on top ' will be used to 

 signify that the stag is seven and eight years old, as the case 

 may be. After the latter age, the changes of the head are 

 slight, though naturally, as the age increases, it becomes wider 

 in its spread. 



It is customary to speak of a stag by the total number of 

 his ' rights ' — brow, bay, and antlers, and by that of his ' points.' 

 Thus, at six years old, he will be ' a stag of ten ; ' that is to say, 

 he will have two brow antlers, two bay antlers, two tray antlers, 



