MAMMALIA—STAG. 335 
remote from man, the peaceful retreats of nature. His light and elegant 
form ; his flexible, yet nervous limbs; his head rather adorned, than armed, 
with a living substance, like the branch of a tree, which is every year 
renewed ; his size, his swiftness, his strength, sufficiently distinguish him 
from the r2st of the inhabitants of the forest. 
The old stags shed their horns first, which happens about the end of Feb- 
ruary, or the beginning of March. Stags in their seventh year do not 
undergo this change till the middle or the end of March; nor do those in 
their sixth year, till the month of April. 
After they have shed their horns, they separate from each other; the very 
young ones, alone, associating together. They remain no longer m covert; 
they seek the beautiful parts of the country, the groves, and the open cop- 
pices, where they remain all the summer, till they recover the antlers which 
were wont to adorn their brows. And, during this season, they carry their 
heads low, for fear of striking them against the branches; for they are 
exceedingly tender till they arrive at perfection. The horns of the oldest 
stags are scarcely half repaired by the month of May; nor do they attain 
their full length and hardness till about the end of July. The horns of the 
young stag are very late shed, and very late recovered; but when these 
are completely lengthened, and are become quite hard, they rub them 
