BRITISH MAMMALS 
The antlers are rounded, and when fully developed each usually 
branches into three ' tines ' pointing forwards, with three more points 
at the top starting from a cup-like depression, but great variation occurs 
in the number and shape of the points as well as in the size of the horns. 
In the first year of a stag's life the growth consists of a single pair 
of spikes, in the next the brow points are developed, and afterwards the 
points increase in number till in his sixth year he is usually fully grown, 
and often has a head of twelve points, when he is known as a ' Royal.' 
According to Millais, wild stags in England shed their horns in 
April, those in Scotland a month later. 
Good shelter and abundance of suitable food increase the size and 
number of points in the antlers, as surely as less favourable conditions, 
such as poor feeding and overcrowding, cause deterioration. 
There are no wild deer in the British Islands to-day approaching in 
any way the great stags which inhabited our forests far back in pre- 
historic times, whose wonderful antlers of many points and enormous 
beam are occasionally dug out of peat deposits or river beds, and dwarf 
by comparison our best Scottish specimens of modern times. 
When the Red Stag casts his horns in spring, the new growth, which 
increases rapidly, is at first soft, very sensitive, and clothed in a delicate 
hairy covering known as 'velvet.' When the new horn is complete, 
this outer covering dries, and as it peels is removed by the action of the 
animal, who may be seen at this time rubbing his horns against rocks, 
banks of peat, or trees. 
The Red Deer is found inhabiting forest country throughout the 
greater part of Europe, ranging as far north as Norway, Sweden, and 
Russia, and southwards to Corsica and Sardinia, but it is now unknown 
in Greece and Italy. 
It also inhabits Asia Minor and North Africa. This species is 
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