THE AMERICAN DEER. 223 
dance, the wilder and more gamy is the flavor of the 
venison. 
The third variety is the Roe, a native of all the wilder 
and more broken forest regions of Great Britain, both 
north and south, though they are few in number as 
compared with either of the other species. They are 
much smaller than the Red or Fallow Deer, of a uniform 
reddish-brown color, and are distinguished by small erect 
horns, with a single prong in front. Of the two last 
species the male is known as the buck, the female as the 
doe. 
The American Deer‘in size, color, the branched for- 
mation of its antlers, and the character of its flesh, most 
nearly resembles the Red Deer of Europe, but is clearly 
distinguished from that animal by some peculiarities in 
its structure and by the shape of its horns. In the 
European Red Deer, the direction of the main stem of 
the antlers is directly backward, all the branches or 
prongs springing from the anterior side and pointing 
forward, the lowest on each side, or brow antler, which 
is the principal defense of the animal against his natural 
enemies, the wolf and dog, bending forward and down- 
ward on the outer side of the brow and eye. 
In the American Deer, the main stem at first inclines 
backward for about half its length, but then turns for- 
ward with a bold curve, and terminates in a sharp 
deflected point, all the prongs, which are sometimes 
themselves bifid, and even trifid, arising from the poste- 
