CARIACUS VIRGINI ANUS. 
19 
by the scent; and when two or more bucks meet, fierce conflicts en- 
sue. In these engagements their antlers sometimes become inter- 
locked, so that the combatants cannot tree themselves, and both must 
inevitably perish. My father has a set of locked horns that were 
found, with the carcasses attached, frozen in the ice on Pine Creek, 
in Lewis County, several winters ago. The body of the larger buck 
was in fair condition, while that of the smaller was much emaciated, 
showing that the larger and more powerful had succeeded in forcing 
his adversary’s head to one side so that he could browse a little. 
Audubon and Bachman state that they once saw three pairs of 
horns thus interlocked. What a wretched trio this must have been, 
slowly starving in the midst of plenty ! 
At this season the bucks not only fight amongst themselves, but 
occasionally attack man, and more than one unfortunate person has 
been gored to death by them. In battle they make use of their horns, 
and also of the fore feet, whose sharp hoofs are capable of inflicting 
terrible wounds. I was once sitting quietly on a log in a Deer park 
when a buck approached, and, making a sudden spring, dealt me such 
a powerful blow on the head, with the hoofs of his fore feet, as to ren- 
der me unconscious. No sooner was I thrown upon the ground than 
the vicious beast sprang upon me, and would doubtless have killed me 
outright had it not been for the intervention of a man who rushed at 
him with a club and finally drove him off. Both my father and myself 
have been knocked flat upon the ground by being struck in the ab- 
domen by the fore feet of a very harmless looking doe. 
As a rule, two fawns are born at a time, one being the exception. 
Most of them are brought forth in May, a few being dropped as early 
as the latter part of April, while others are postponed until the first 
week in June. They are at first spotted, the spots usually remaining 
about four months and disappearing in September, when both old and 
young change their coats. Before the moult takes place they may 
fairly be regarded as one of the most beautiful of North American 
