The European Stag, or Red Deer, is a fine looking animal, the tallest
of the deer kind. The pride of the north, he delights in the highest
mountains and the thickest forests, and is famed for long life, though
the natural term of his existence be often exaggerated, and which,
when exposed to human observation, he has never yet been accurately
known to reach. He comes to full growth at five years, when his horns
send out as many antlers, and he is called a hart, and the female a
hind.
Every year the male sheds his horns, and conscious of his temporary
weakness, hides himself till his new ones are hardened. His color, as
his name imports, is a bright reddish-brown, of a darker shade near
the belly, which is white. When fatigued in the chase, he takes the
water if near, and will cross with ease considerable and rapid
streams; when wounded or taken, he sheds tears like a child; but
though timid, when at bay he sometimes takes ample vengeance upon the
hounds before he is subdued.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: LION.]