856 THE ZOOLOGJST. 



honl of from fifty to eighty, or more, Red-deer of all ages (then harboured 

 and protected on Brandon Barton and Scobhill, by the late Mr. Knight, of 

 Exmoorl, and which would allow a person on horseback to approach quite 

 close to them, so that I could distinctly trace the growth of the horns of the 

 different animals there assembled, and contrast them with the one in my 

 possession. This opportunity I frequently embraced, and consequently 

 I consider myself to have been in a position to give more correct information 

 than any person who has yet written on the subject, and the result of my 

 experience I will now proceed to state. 



" In the first year of the stag's life there appears a small straight horn, 

 or it may be merely a knob, varying from one to nine inches in lengtli. In 

 the second year he may have what is termed in Devonshire his ' brow,' 

 ' bay,' and ' tray,' which are called antlers ; but frequently there is an 

 absence of one or other of these, and when this is the case I have observed 

 that it continues as he advances in years, and that the points on the top 

 are diminished accordingly. But I must here remark that the points will 

 not alone serve as a guide to his age, although by a combination of these 

 and other marks, as T shall hereafter state, it may be ascertained. In 

 short, I defy any individual who has merely followed the hounds and been 

 present at the death — I care not how many times — to tell the age of a stag 

 by his horns only. 



"I have myself followed the hounds for a great number of years, and 

 been present at many a death ; and I can safely say that I have frequently 

 heard the most ridiculous arguments as to his age, some asserting him to 

 be three or four years old, and others saying he is ten and upwards. For 

 my own part, of late years I have not seen a stag of ten years old, nor do 

 I think that any one in the county can show me one ; that they do live to 

 the age of ten and upwards I do not for one moment dispute, but if anyone 

 possesses a head of a stag of that age 1 should very much like to see it. 

 Another error which I have frequently heard persons assert is, they know 

 him to be an old stag because he is hoop-horned ; but are these individuals 

 aware, or will they bt-lievo, that this is not a mark of old age, but of youth, 

 as most of the male Red-deer, from two to three years old, are what they 

 call hoop-horned? 



" But now the question comes, Can a stag's age be known by his head? 

 I believe it can up to a certain period, but only by those who have studied 

 it. The latest publications, wherein it is said that a male deer has no horns 

 in his first year, are in error, as I have already remarked, and the statement 

 appears to have been copied from older writers, where the same error has 

 been committed. But when the fir.-<t two or three years of the animal's life 

 have been so confounded, is it to be wondered at that mistakes should arise 

 as to his age? It has also been asserted that an animal which has been 

 kept in a park or paddock will at three years old present the appearance of 



