354 CERVID^. 



only one calf. She retires from the herd to bring forth, 

 and continues to attend to her young with the greatest 

 assiduity and tenderness ; in winter the females and calves 

 again reassemble in a herd. About February, the old 

 Stags drop their antlers, the young ones retaining theirs 

 somewhat longer, and soon after they begin to be replaced 

 in the manner above described. At this time they seek 

 the most solitary places, and remain quite apart from the 

 rest of the herd. 



A very ancient popular belief, traced by Sir Thomas 

 Browne back to the ancient Egyptians, attributes an 

 extraordinary longevity to the Stag. This is fully be- 

 lieved by the Highlanders of Scotland, and several 

 curious and circumstantial traditions of Stags living for 

 a hundred years and upwards will be found in Mr. 

 Scrope's interesting work. In parks, however, Red 

 Deer are found to have reached their full prime at twelve, 

 and seldom to live for twenty years, and it does not 

 appear probable that this limit is very much exceeded in 

 a wild state. 



The derivation of the English names applied to the 

 Deer tribe is interesting, showing how completely the 

 simple Saxon words of the stout yeomen and outlaws 

 ousted the Norman-French terms used by Princes and 

 Barons. Thus Deer is the Anglo-Saxon Deor, its primary 

 meaning signifying simply a beast (German Thier, Greek 

 Ther, Latin Ferus). Stag originally meant a male animal 

 of any species, as in the Icelandic Steggr, a male, and the 

 Scotch Staig, a young horse. Heart and Hind are also 

 Saxon. Venison, however, is from the French venaison 

 (perhaps allied to the Latin venor, to hunt), and antlei- 

 is from the old French antoilie?', but beam and tine are 

 from the Saxon words beam, a tree, and tind, a tooth or 

 spike. Many of the quaint old terms of wood-craft have 



