Red Deer 



7i 



a little before the pairing-season, which about the middle of October is at 

 its height. Owing to the large numbers of deer gathered on the bare hills, 

 the pairing-season in the Highlands presents a combination of scene and 

 sound without parallel in continental forests. The hills re-echo with the 

 roaring of rival stags, which roam to and fro, restless and defiant, now roll- 

 ing in the peat-pools, now rounding up their hinds, and now fighting 

 desperate battles. With individual deer the spur of sexual excitement will 

 sometimes totally dispel the fear of man. Thus a wild stag in Jura once 



Fig. 20. — A Red Deer in the Park at Woburn Abbey. From a photograph by the 



Duchess of Bedford. 



took possession of some tame hinds that were accustomed to be hand-fed, 

 and for the time being resolutely guarded them from all interference. 

 Contrary to the general opinion, mastership in the herd goes to the 

 weightiest and most vigorous stag without respect to the calibre of his 

 antlers, so-called " bald " stags being not unfrequently masters of large 

 herds. Stags lose condition rapidly during the pairing-season, at the close 

 of which they are completely exhausted. 



Except in the pairing-season, adult stags and hinds do not associate 

 freely, but lead to some extent independent lives in large or small bands, 



