THE RED DEER'S LIFE 39 



he concluded his tale with a fearful sigh, ' It was the 

 devil, zur ; I do know it ; I seed his cloven foot ! ' 



The romance of the red deer loses much of its 

 intrinsic charm when a herd of deer is cribbed within 

 the barriers of a park. The carriage of the wild stag, 

 as he halts on a spur of hill to gaze for a moment at 

 an intruder before cantering after his companions as 

 they troop down a rocky slope in single file, is noble 

 and inspiring. Deer have their favourite tracks among 

 the hills, and cross the stone walls of the Lake hills 

 at particular points by preference. It is delightful to 

 see a small herd daintily picking their way across the 

 course of some small beck among the uplands. But 

 even park deer retain much of the easy grace of 

 the wild animals. Especially is this applicable to the 

 calves of the red deer when they are strong enough to 

 race after their dams across extensive paddocks. Con- 

 finement under artificial conditions affords special 

 opportunities for the naturalist to study the growth of 

 deer. Mr. Samuel Carter contributed an interesting 

 paper to the 'Zoologist' of 1887, on the growth of 

 antlers in the red deer, as based upon his observa- 

 tion of tame examples. This gentleman bred eleven 

 calves in six years, one of which turned out a particu- 

 larly fine animal. This animal carried nine points 

 in his third year. Mr. Carter came to the conclusion 



