ANIMAL ACCLIMATIZATION 315 



park. In the centre of the pond sat a cormorant, and 

 on the grass by the margin some gigantic cranes with 

 crimson heads and gray wings were running and 

 ' dancing ' in honour of the sun. On the hill to the 

 left, where the Abbey lies, were five distinct herds or 

 deer. Three of these were fallow bucks and does. 

 One herd was of red-deer, and hybrids between the 

 red-deer and the wapiti. On the sky-line were a herd 

 of pure-bred wapiti, with three huge stags, their horns 

 just cleaned from the velvet. In the centre slope, in 

 diminishing perspective till they appeared mere dots 

 among the trees, were mixed groups of Japanese deer, 

 the same breed which have thriven so remarkably in the 

 parks of Sir Edmund Loder and Lord Powerscourt, 

 fallow bucks and does, red-deer, both * red ' and pure 

 white, of which variety the park holds a considerable 

 number, a few other and smaller foreign deer, and a 

 group of five nylghau antelopes from India. Three of 

 these were reddish-gray in colour, while two were real 

 * blue bulls/ very fine upstanding beasts, well suited to 

 woodland scenery. On the right, within a hundred 

 yards, lying down or feeding under an ancient elm, was 

 a small herd of zebras, as quiet and at their ease as so 

 many New Forest ponies with their foals. Picture 

 this animal population among the groves and ancient 

 timber of an English park in May. And this is but 

 one among many such sights visible in this unique 



