Exhibition of Heads of the Red Deer. 209 
forest of North Uist, in the month of September last. The 
horns are well marked and characteristic, though of rather 
a small size, as is to be expected in the island deer. One 
of them is a royal stag of twelve, and another of eleven 
points. 
The two heads, however, of special interest, are those 
strangely formed and distorted ones, of which one head has 
the right horn bent backwards, and measures 7 J inches in 
length, a short brow antler, 4 inches long, rises upwards from 
it in front, the second or bezantler is 5J inches in length, 
but points backwards ; and behind this, or rather immediately 
at the back of this, is the end of the beam, projecting as 
a mere point. The horn of the left side of the head has a 
longer, slightly bent and tapering beam, which measures 
17 inches in length ; with two short points, the brow antler 
about IJ, and the bezantler 2J inches in length. Another 
head has the beam of the right horn thrown completely 
backwards, and 9 inches in length, ending in a short and 
rough hook-like extremity, and the brow antler (the only 
one present) projects forwards, and is 10 inches long. The 
left horn has the beam also bent back, short, and broad, 
and 8 inches in length ; the brow antler turned backwards, 
and 7 inches long, the second or bezantler also bent back- 
wards, and 3J inches long, with merely a small, short point 
projecting above it ; beyond which the beam bends back- 
wards, and terminates in a rough hook-like extremity. The 
teeth are perfect in both skulls, eight incisors and six molars 
in each jaw, and two tusks in the upper jaw of each. 
Captain Orde states that these deer were both in good 
condition, and he considers the peculiarly formed horns to 
be those of very old deer ; that after they have attained to 
old age, the horns become smaller, and also generally irre- 
gular in character, as these are. He mentions that for 
the last twelve years very few deer have been killed in the 
forest of North Uist, and that several other deer, sho wing- 
similar peculiarities, have been also noticed in the forest. 
The peculiarly formed ones he is inclined to consider may 
be also due, to a certain extent, to deterioration from the 
comparatively small number of the deer, breeding in and 
