STAG, or RED DEER

—The STAG and HIND are the male and female of this tribe, as the BUCK and DOE are of the fallow deer. The latter are mostly the natives of parks, and bred for domestic purposes, producing venison for the table; the former are the majestic inhabitants of those extensive and sequestered tracts called FORESTS and CHACES , where they are preserved as more peculiarly appropriated to the pleasures of the chase, in which even his Majesty , with his hunting retinue, condescends to engage. The STAG , individually surveyed, is one of the grandest and most stately figures in the animal creation; his very appearance instantly exciting attention and admiration. Naturally disposed to solitude, he never obtrudes upon the haunt of man, but revels in the remote and obscure shades of abstrusity. When caught sight of amidst the umbrageous stillne of his abode, the grandeur, lofty look, and commanding aspect, of his first survey, cannot be encountered without the most aweful and impre ive sensations. With ample power to oppose, he has pliability to submit, and, after a few moments interview, deliberately retires to his protecting covert, seemingly more surprized than alarmed at the sight of the HUMAN SPECIES . In the dignity of his deportment he stands unrivalled, and may, with allegorical propriety, be considered the hereditary MONARCH of the WOODS , as every other animal is observed to give way upon his approach. In his peaceable and undisturbed retirement, he is perfectly tranquil and inoffensive, displaying no antipathy or opposition to those who come not in hostility to him. His form is the most sublime and beautiful that can po ibly be conceived; the elegance of his figure, the commanding effect of his stature, the flexibility of his frame, the elasticity of his limbs, the velocity of his motion, and the proportional immensity of his strength, in addition to the impre ion made upon the mind by the magnific grandeur of the antlers, branching from his brow, all seem uniformly calculated to render him an object of the most serious and pleasing attraction. The RED DEER , formerly so plentiful to be found in different remote parts of England , the Highlands of Scotland , and the Lake of Killarney, in Ireland , are greatly reduced, and but very rarely to be found in a wild and unpreserved state in either. This must of course be attributed to the more advantageous distribution and cultivation of land, and the improved state of every country. Stags , or HINDS , were then found singly , and hunted or pursued by those who happened to find them; but now in the Forest of Windsor, and the New Forest in Hampshire, where they are bred and protected for the ROYAL CHASE , they a emble together; and upon Ascot Heath, near Swinley Lodge, (the official residence of the Master of his Majesty's Stag Hounds,) may be seen the largest herd in the King's dominions. The colour of both STAG and HIND is a dingy red, with darker tints about the eyes and mouth: down the upper part of the neck, and over the points of the shoulders, is a shade of dark brown, bordering upon black: the countenance is commandingly expre ive; the eye beautifully brilliant, even to poetic celebrity; and his senses of smelling and hearing equal to any animal of this country. When in the least alarmed, his position is the most majestic; he raises his head to the highest pitch, erects his ears, swells his neck, extends his nostrils, and snuffs the air, as if in curious and impatient investigation of the cause by which it was occasioned. Let this be what it may, he never takes to sudden flight, without first measuring, by his eye and ear , the magnitude of the danger, and proceeds accordingly. If dogs are not of the party, men, cattle, or carriages, seem to give him little or no concern; for, after turning twice or thrice, to take a repeated survey with a kind of confused admiration, he moves off very deliberately, without any alarming sensation. The season for copulation with the deer tribe (see " Rutting Time ") begins at the latter end of August and beginning of September, and terminates in the beginning or middle of October; depending, in that respect, a little upon the state of the season, and the ages of the different head of deer; those of two and three years old being back warder, of course extending the time beyond those who are older. From the moment of conception with the hind, to the time of parturition, is nearly nine lunar months; as they produce in the last week in May , or one of the two first in June . Immediately after impregnation, she separates herself from the STAG ; no intercourse takes place; even common a ociation ceases; and nothing during the period of gestation ensues, but mutual and marked indifference. The hind is seldom or ever known to produce more than one, (which is called a CALF :) this she deposits in the most remote, sequestered, and best sheltered spot to be procured, for the purpose of secretion from its numerous enemies, amongst whom there is none more determined or malicious than the masculine occasion of its existence, even the sire himself. Mysterious as this may appear, it is an unexaggerated fact; and the dam, perfectly conscious of the stag's unnatural propensity, is more industrious to conceal the calf's retreat from him, than the aggregate of its other enemies. The CALF , when once it is of strength sufficient to accompany its dam, never leaves her side during the first summer; and the ensuing winter, none but the HINDS , and males under a year old, remain together; the annual separation between the STAGS and HINDS invariably taking place as before described. During the months of infancy, the courage of the dam, in defence of her offspring, is equal to any maternal affection of our own species; she opposes every force, encounters every enemy, exposes herself to every danger, and hazards her own life to insure the safety of her young. The hind has but little protection upon the score of self-preservation, nature having left her without horns, those useful and ornamental weapons with which the stag is so powerfully armed. The first year the male has no horns; the second they are straight, and single ; the third, they shew two branches; the fourth, three ; the fifth, four ; and the sixth, five ; when the stag is reckoned complete, and at his full growth: notwithstanding this, the antlers continue to increase till there are six or seven on each side; and though the age of the deer is mostly ascertained by the number, yet it is not always certain, but is more nicely to be depended on from the thickne and size of the trunk or body by which they are sustained. These horns, enormous as they appear, are shed annually , which happens in the latter end of February , or during the month of March ; of which there is a most perfect regeneration before the commencement of the RUTTING TIME , when they fight for the hind with the most determined and incredible ferocity. After the season of rutting , the stags having been found too weak to stand long before the hounds, the operation of castration was adopted; and the stag thus deprived of the means of propagation, (by the lo of the testes,) feeling no stimulative propensity to copulate, is never debilitated, but always ready for the field, and affords runs of great duration. Thus operated upon, they are then called HE A VIERS ; and it is a remarkable fact, that if a stag is castrated while his horns (alias antlers) are in a state of perfection, they will never exfoliate: on the contrary, if the operation is performed when the head is bare , the horns will never return.