THE BED DEER. 19 



points in its third year. He considered that the 

 fine antlers of Exmoor were due mainly to the 

 excellent browse in the large coverts of scrub 

 oak, &c. 



In Devonshire a stag's brow, bez (bay), and trez 

 (tray) antlers are called his Rights ; upright points 

 on top of the horns (cup), his Crockets. The horn 

 itself is the Beam, the width the Span, the rough 

 part at the base the ' Pearls.' Technical terms vary 

 both in their pronunciation and their spelling in 

 different localities. Harts that are crowned with 

 three points at the upper extremity of each horn 

 are called Royals. 



Very few people have actually seen a stag 

 drop its antlers. The incident is said to occasion 

 the animal much surprise and bewilderment, and 

 having dropped one antler, it is said to bound 

 away, as though fearful of what is about to happen 

 next. It may be some hours before the second 

 antler drops, and occasionally a deer may be 

 watched browsing with its antlers so loose that 

 they are perceived to move. One curious fact 

 remarked upon by almost every student of the 

 red deer is that very few antlers are found com- 

 pared with the number that are shed. This may 

 be due to the fact that they very soon bleach, and 

 assume the semblance of a dead and barkless elm- 

 branch, and when most of the antler as it lies on 

 the ground is covered by leaves or vegetation, it 

 requires very keen sight to detect it. I have 

 myself stepped on a shed antler, and not till it 

 rose beneath my foot, casting off its partial cover- 

 ing of leaves, did a second scrutiny reveal what 

 it was. Deer are fond of gnawing dead antlers, 

 or any kind of bone substance for that matter, 

 but it is not reasonable to think that they com- 



