90 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



The Elaphine Group. 



We now come to the Stags proper, a small group com- 

 posed however of species the most celebrated in the annals 

 of the chase, and the fictions of the poets. The males have 

 canine teeth, and three antlers on the beam, exclusive of 

 the crown of the horns. 



The Stag. (Cervus Elaphus.) The Stag of the Euro- 

 pean forests bears horns with a round beam slightly bent 

 inwards at the summits, three branches pointing to the 

 front, and the snags of the crown issuing from a common 

 centre. The adults, male and female, in the summer, have 

 the back, flanks, and outside of the thighs, fulvous-brown, 

 a blackish line running along the spine, marked on each 

 side with a row of pale fulvous spots. In winter these 

 parts are of an uniform gray-brown ; the buttocks and tail 

 are at all times pale buff, separated from the brown by a 

 blackish line ; the head, sides of the neck, under parts of 

 the body and legs, are gray-brown, and a broad band of 

 brown passes down the face. All these colours become 

 darker with age, particularly with the males. There are, 

 however, breeds deeper in colour, who in winter are nearly 

 black ; these are most common in the German woods, the 

 Hartz, the Ardennes, &c, and distinguished by the name 

 of Brandhirsch, or burnt stag, from their colour*. Others, 

 among which are the English, are rufous, and hence named 

 Red-deer. Albinism likewise occurs sometimes, and was 

 remarked even by Aristotle and Pliny. In old age they be- 

 come of a gray buff colour, and there are instances also of 

 the face being white, from whence the sign not uncommon 

 in this country of the bald-faced stag. 



* Brand, in the Norsk and Danish, signifies, however, the same 

 as the French term Entier, i. e.,not emasculated, fierce; and thence 

 a sword was named brand. 



