THE STAG. 79 



and in this wise the number of his household increases 

 from day to day. Now he will stand in the midst and 

 look around with a listless air, then presently with an 

 angry snort rush forth in order to drive back again 

 some feeding deer that had presumed to stray from his 

 more immediate neighbourhood. For thi« is a pro- 

 ceeding he will on no account tolerate : in his domestic 

 circle he is a tyrant, and rules as one ; and accordingly 

 he walks round and round the herd and keeps them 

 well together. His will is to be their law, and like a 

 true despot he expects that every inclination of another 

 must bend to his imperial pleasure. Yet, despite his 

 unlimited sway, he finds it difficult to enforce obedience, 

 and he is continually punishing refractory stragglers by 

 butting them with his horns. 



At this season he likes to be alone with the herd, 

 and will tolerate no other stag in his company. In- 

 deed, so evidently annoying is it to him to be disturbed, 

 that he has been known to attack people who came 

 into his neighbourhood ; and of the instances which are 

 upon record of men having been set upon by the male 

 red deer, all, no doubt, occurred at this period when the 

 stag is most irritable, and occasionally even careless of, 

 or rather blind to, danger. His nature, in this respect, 

 seems then quite changed ; for at other times, as we all 

 know, an unusual sound, a slight rustle, or a strange 

 appearance, is alone sufficient to alarm and cause him 

 to retreat. 



*F8 



