240 THE KEEPER'S BOOK 



interesting and useful study for him, and that is the 

 growth and development of the deer's horn, from the 

 time it commences to sprout (covered with velvet) from 

 the stag's skull, till later it develops into what I con- 

 sider one of the most picturesque and most prized and 

 valued trophies a good sportsman can possess, a finely 

 matured stag's head. I feel I am treading on danger- 

 ous ground when I write on this subject, so many abler 

 and more experienced men than myself have made a 

 lifelong study of deer's horns, and a great many most 

 interesting and instructive articles have been written re- 

 garding them, and yet, in spite of all this writing, and 

 in spite of all this study of animal life, there is no dis- 

 puting the fact that of late years the heads of Scottish 

 red deer have been deteriorating greatly, and "all the 

 king's stalkers and all the king's men " cannot put a 

 stop to this and make them pick up again. I think I 

 am correct in saying that this deterioration is going on 

 in almost every forest in Scotland, and I think all old 

 stalkers will corroborate me in this and tell you the 

 same tale, "Heads are going back, back, back!" 

 What is to be done ? Money will not stop it, artificial 

 feeding in winter will not stop it, and the introduction 

 of fresh blood and park deer seems of no avail, though 

 I do think that good wintering in a small way helps 

 deer to grow better heads. But in my very humble 

 opinion, and I trust I will not bring a hornet's nest of 

 deerstalkers about me for what I am going to say 

 to my mind, the key to this deterioration of late lies in 



