CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 



13 



deer, then, of species with branching antlers take a number of years, 

 very nearly corresponding with the number of points, to acquire the 

 full development of their kind, and the antlers they produce in their 



Fig. 7. Three stages in the growth of the horns of the takin. a, at 

 six months old ; B, at two years old ; c, young adult. (From an 

 example living in the London Zoological Gardens.) 



earlier years resemble those of the simpler kinds of deer, and also 

 of their extinct ancestors. 



Mammals, when they are born or very soon afterwards, closely 

 resemble their parents. The differences are due to greater likeness 

 to ancestors and to their nearest allies, to the absence of special 

 weapons or ornaments, or to the presence of characters useful to the 

 young themselves. 



Newly hatched birds, nestlings and fledglings are usually rather 



