BRITISH MAMMALS 



Though grass is their principal food, they are fond of the leaves of trees, 

 and do a great deal of damage to crops when near their haunts. A well- 

 known habit of the Red Deer is its partiality for chewing bones and cast-off 

 antlers, which are often found gnawed and worn by the teeth of the animal. 



Though timid and shy of human beings when in a wild condition, 

 few animals are more dangerous than a stag which has become sufficiently 

 tame to lose his fear of man, as sometimes happens in the rutting season, 

 when fatal accidents have often happened. Even wild stags when they 

 have taken to plantations near houses, as they sometimes do, and in conse- 

 quence have lost some of their natural shyness, are not always to be trusted. 



The hind brings forth her single calf early in summer, and for some 

 time keeps it hidden in a bed of bracken or other thick cover. The 

 young are marked with spots of white on the back and sides, which are 

 retained till the following spring. 



According to Millais, wild stags do not reach their prime till they 

 are eleven years of age, and remain at their best for another four or 

 five years. 



