THE ZOOLOGIST. 



THIRD SERIES. 



Vol. XIV.] MAY, 18 9 0. [No. J 61. 



ENGLISH DEER PARKS. 

 By the Editoe. 



More than twenty years have elapsed since the late Mr. Evelyn 

 Philip Shirley published his ' Account of English Deer Parks.' 



This book, of which only a small edition was issued, has long 

 been out of print, and is now so scarce that it is priced in second- 

 hand booksellers' catalogues at two and even three guineas. The 

 time seems to have arrived, therefore, for the preparation of a 

 new edition, if anyone could be found to undertake it. 



From even a cursory glance at what Mr. Shirley has written 

 on this subject, it is evident that such a task would be by no 

 means a light one. So far as his materials permitted, the book 

 is a very good one, especially when we consider that it was the 

 first, and is still the only one existing on the subject ; but it is by 

 no means exhaustive, and in several respects might be materially 

 improved. 



In the first place, it would be of interest to give some account 

 of the former haunts of the wild Ked-deer in England, adding, if 

 possible, the date of its extinction as a wild animal in different 

 parts of the country. 



Wallis, writing in 1769 (Nat. Hist. Northumb. vol. i. p. 408), 

 says that at that date the wild Eed-deer had become very scarce 

 by the eager pursuit of them by sportsmen and others, and were 

 seldom seen except in the forest of Knaresdale, where he himself 

 had seen five or six in company, never more. He specifies the 

 forests of ancient date in this county, as Cheviot, Eothbury, 



ZOOLOGIST. — MAY, 1890. N 



