356 CERVID^. 



buttock marked by a large yellowish-white patch. In 

 winter, the coat is longer and softer, and the colour is 

 more of a brownish-grey. White varieties are not uncom- 

 mon in parks, and are occasionally met with in a state of 

 nature. The Calves are beautifully spotted with white 

 during their first summer. 



The number of tines of a Stag's antlers varies very 

 much, and it is scarcely necessary to observe that the 

 popular idea, that one is added for every year of the 

 animal's life, is quite without foundation. It is true that 

 this is the case during youth, but when a Stag has reached 

 its maximum of strength and vitality the size of its 

 weapons increases no longer, or even decreases as the 

 creature becomes old and decrepid. We have already 

 observed that in a normal antler the three anterior 

 branches are always present, the variation in number 

 lying in the crown or cup, the branches of which may be 

 more or less numerous, and still remain quite regular. 

 But some of the most famous heads can only be considered 

 as abnormal. 



There can be no doubt that the size and development 

 of the antlers depend very much on the food which the 

 animal consumes, and that as the Red Deer has been gra- 

 dually driven back from the best pastures by civilization, 

 it has degenerated in consequence. The antlers found in 

 the alluvial deposits of this country present a calibre and 

 development which has been even considered to point out 

 a specific distinction, and both here and abroad the heads 

 of Stags killed two or tln-ee centuries ago are much larger 

 and finer than those of the present day. In Scotland, 

 where breeding in-and-in has probably also had its effect, 

 fine heads are now rare. In Eastern Europe the average 

 is considerably better, but nowhere could antlers now be 

 found which could compare with some of the old heads 



