128 FOREST CREATUEES. 



and, as the dancing thing moved to or fro, it would play 

 with it for pastime : or, if a bee came humming among 

 the flowers, the noisy intruder was watched with a droll 

 inquisitive look. Nor would it easily take fright and 

 leave the pleasant retreat. At intervals some distant 

 sound might cause a sudden cessation from play and a 

 moment of listening attention ; but alarm was soon dis- 

 sipated and the repose enjoyed as unconcernedly as 

 before. 



Fallow deer are of various colours, red, black, and 

 white ; the red however are most frequent. Occasionally 

 one or two white deer will be kept for the sake of rarity ; 

 but where poachers are it would not be advisable to 

 have many, as, on account of their coloiu- being visible 

 at night, they form a good mark for a shot in the 

 darkness. The bucks, unlike the red deer, herd to- 

 gether : they get extremely fat, and in the good season 

 their backs and sides are as broad and round as those 

 of an animal purposely fattened for the market. They 

 then will often not give a drop of blood when wounded 

 by a bullet ; and you may follow the slot of the animal 

 for a considerable distance without finding any token 

 of its having been wounded, till at last you come 

 upon it extended on the ground quite dead. The fat 

 closes round the wound, and prevents the blood from 

 oozing out. Like the stag, when in prime condition, 

 they soon get winded, and move about as little and as 



