IN DEVON AND SOMERSET 225 



of the velvet. By the height of the marks an opinion 

 can often be formed as to the character of the head 

 and the size of the deer. If the fraying is against a 

 big tree, it is a certain sign of a big stag, though stags 

 also fray against small trees ; the sign is universal, of 

 course, only during the few days that the velvet is 

 peeling, but in the fir forests of France the stags often 

 fray the whole year round, and with us they do so at 

 the approach of the rutting season. Thorn trees are 

 frequently selected, and isolated firs and pines ; this 

 used to be a great trouble to the late Lord Lovelace, 

 whose choicest trees, being carefully placed apart from 

 others, were very apt to suffer. 



The ' breakages ' need little description ; they are 

 the dead boughs, twigs, ferns, and the like, broken 

 and bent by a stag as he passes through a wood ; and 

 their position will often show his height, strength, and 

 size. 



The ' entries ' are similar traces left by a stag's 

 horns : if they are high up and wide apart they speak 

 for themselves as to the character of the head that 

 made them. 



Something is to be learned also from the feeding 

 of the deer. If the bark of a tree or the ivy growing 

 on it is gnawed up and down, it is the work of a hind : 

 but if the bites are across the trunk they are a stag's. 



Q 



