346 



UNGULATES. 



the hinds, being unwilling to leave them ; the other pursues, and when he touches 

 the fugitive with the points of his horns, the animal thus gored either bounds 

 suddenly on one side, and then turns and faces him, or will dash off to the right or 

 the left, and at once give up the contest. The conflict, however, generally continues 

 for a considerable time, and nothing can be more entertaining than to witness, as I 

 have often done, the varied success and address of the combatants. It is a sort 

 of wild joust, in the presence of the dames who, as of old, bestow their favours 

 on the most valiant. ... In solitary encounters, there being no hinds to take the 

 alarm, the harts are so occupied and possessed with such fury that they may be 



occasionally ap- 

 proached in a manner 

 that it would be vain 

 to attempt at any 

 other time." One 

 instance has been 

 recorded where the 

 antlers of two stags 

 fighting in this 

 manner became so 

 firmly interlocked 

 that the victor was 

 unable to disengage 

 himself from his 

 dead antagonist, and 

 was thus held cap- 

 tive until killed by 

 a forester. After an 

 interval of eight 

 months and a few 

 days from the pair- 

 ing-season — that is 

 to say, generally in 

 the early part of 

 June — the fawns are 

 produced; there 

 being but rarely more than one at a birth. The fawn is dropped in high heather, 

 and is left concealed there during the day by the hind, who returns to visit it in 

 the evening. Mr. Scrope states that the dam makes her offspring " lie down by a 

 pressure of her nose ; and it will never stir or lift up its head the whole of the day, 

 unless you come right upon it, as I have often done. It lies like a dog, with its 

 nose to its tail. The hind, however, although she separates herself from the young 

 fawn, does not lose sight of its welfare, but remains at a distance to windward, 

 and goes to its succour in case of an attack of the wild cat or fox, or any other 

 powerful vermin." 



The old stags shed their antlers about February or March, according to the 

 nature of the season, but those of the young bucks are retained for some time 



^ to 



