British Deer and their Horns 
r 5° 
cabinet as a skin. Which, by the bye, recalls my poor father’s remark when some one was 
chaffing me about writing a big volume on the subject of grouse : “ Ah well, you can write 
a book bigger than the Bible about bluebottles if you only know enough about them” 
Taking everything into consideration, the fallow deer is about the most satisfactory 
animal we could possibly have in our parks. They are extremely beautiful, their venison 
is first-rate, and they are never dangerous, the latter perhaps the most important of all, for 
one may say that, hardly without exception, the elaphine group are not to be implicitly 
FALLOW DEER FEEDING 
trusted if allowed to become the least tame, whilst under such circumstances the sweet and 
gentle-looking little roebuck is the very Devil himself. 
Richard Jefferies pithily remarks that “ a park without deer is like a wall without 
pictures,” and for those who live in the country and are so fortunate as to possess both, the 
animals and their ways are a continual source of enjoyment and interest. 
In summer, provided the weather is warm and sunny, the fallow deer have their regular 
times for rest and food, and are much the same in this respect as the red deer, but as a 
general rule they are more restless, getting up and lying down again more frequently and 
feeding for shorter periods ; particularly so is this the case in winter, when they do not rest 
for nearly so long a period as their larger brethren, but split up into little groups and move 
about, more particularly when food is scarce. Whitaker gives all directions for the feeding 
of fallow deer, etc., so there is next to nothing to be said on this subject. One curious 
fact, however, on the subject of their tastes is worth mentioning. During the very severe 
winter of 1894 the fallow deer in a certain Sussex park were somewhat neglected, and hay, 
