HIPPOPOTAMUSES, PIGS, AND DEER 313 



The fallow deer cannot be considered native to Ireland, the 

 few that are found in that country having been quite recently- 

 introduced from England. 



The male of the fallow deer casts his antlers in May (in the 

 case of the bucks of the first and second year, not till June). 

 By the middle of August the new horns are almost free from 

 their " velvet." It should be noted that, as regards the length 

 of time in which a fallow buck grows his new antlers, he 

 accomplishes this growth at a quicker rate than the red deer, in 

 whom there is generally an interval of five months between the 

 shedding of the horn and the presentation of the perfect antler 

 stripped of its skin. 



The shape of the fallow deer's antlers seems to interfere 

 somewhat with their value as deadly weapons. When the bucks 

 are sparring, the flat, bony basins of the horns make a loud- 

 sounding clashing, and no doubt they can hustle and push one 

 another about very roughly, but there is scarcely any prong or 

 portion of the horn so constructed as to be a good stabbing 

 weapon. For this reason, also, fallow deer are best suited 

 to be park animals, because they are mild in disposition and 

 practically harmless. They have neither the savage boldness (at 

 times) nor the stabbing antlers or powerful feet of the roe deer 

 or the stag. 



Fallow deer do not make so much use of their voice as the roe 

 or the stag. The females are generally very silent, and the male 

 only utters a grunting bark occasionally during the rutting season 

 in September. Only a single fawn is produced as a rule, twins 

 being very rare. The fawn is born in June. Fallow deer are 

 always gregarious — that is to say, they do not go about in couples 

 or alone, but for the greater portion of the year the sexes 

 separate, the bucks being together and the does by themselves, 

 with their young. But the small parties of males, or of females, 

 generally coalesce into large herds in August and September, and 

 again during the beginning of the winter. This last congregation 

 (in the winter-time) is no doubt a relic of the days when at 

 that season they were forced to band together in large numbers 



