228 
mGINIAN DEER. 
having strayed away for some distance, they otten returned a second and 
even a third time to scrape the sides of it, and renew the licking process. 
Our common Deer may be said to be nocturnal in its habits, yet on the 
prairies, or in situations where seldom disturbed, herds of Deer may be 
seen feeding late in the morning and early in the afternoon. Their 
time for rest, in such situations, is generally the middle of the day. In 
the Atlantic States, where constantly molested by the hunters, they are 
seldom seen after sunrise, and do not rise from their bed until the dusk of 
the evening. The Deer is more frequently seen feeding in the day time 
during spring and summer, than in winter ; a rainy day, and snowy 
wintery weather, also invite it to leave its uncomfortable hiding place 
and indulge in its roaming habits. We have no doubt, that in localities 
where Deer have been constantly hunted, they, from a sense of fear, 
allow you to approach much nearer to their place of concealment than 
in situations where they are seldom disturbed. They continue lying 
still, not because they are asleep or unaware of your approach, but because 
they are afraid to expose themselves to view, and hope by close con- 
cealment to be passed without being observed. We have seen them 
lying with their hind legs drawn under them ready for a spring — their 
ears pressed flat on the sides of the neck, and their eyes keenly watch- 
ing every movement of the intruder. Under these circirmstances your 
only chance of success is to ride slowly around the animal as if he 
was not observed, and suddenly fire before he leaps from his bed. 
This effect of fear, on your near appi'oach, is not confined to our Deer; 
it may be seen in the common partridge, the snipe, and other game 
birds. Before being hunted, they are restless — are unwilling to assume 
the crouching posture called setting, and rise at a distance from their 
pursuers ; but after having been a few times disturbed and shot at, they, 
in the language of sportsmen, become tame, and permit themselves to be 
nearly trodden on before they can be induced to rise ; this apparent 
tameness is in reality wildness, and their squatting and hiding the effect 
of terror to which they are prompted by an instinct of self-preservation. 
The gait of this Deer is various. In walking it carries its head very 
low, and pursues its course cautiously and silently, occasionally moving 
its ears and whisking its tail ; the largest animal is usually the leader of 
the herd, which travel in what is called Indian file, there seldom being 
two abreast. Walking is the ordinary pace of the Deer unless frightened, 
or in some state of excitement. When first started, without being much 
alarmed, it gives two or three springs, alighting with apparent awk- 
wardness on three feet— -and immediately afterwards resting on the oppo- 
site side, erecting its white tail and throwing it from side to side. A few 
