er
are displaced by new ones with an additional branch.

The large ears are held erect as if the animal could fairly see with
them. His fine eyes scan the horizon with a searching glance which
misses nothing. His sensitive nose detects from afar the approach of
any stranger to his fastnesses. The end is always moist, in order that
he may catch the way of the wind, as the hunter catches it on his
moistened finger. His neck is encircled with a heavy mane, falling in
a broad band, like the collar of a royal order. His body is rather
short, thick, and round.

The legs, which are seen only half their length, seem strangely
disproportioned to the weight of so heavy an annual. That the deer's
horns are so large and his legs so small are two perpetual mysteries
about this wild creature. An amusing fable by La Fontaine relates how
a stag, gazing at his reflection in the water, deplores the
awkwardness of his legs, and admires the beauty of his antlers. A
moment later, fleeing for his life, he learns the value of his
despised legs, while the boasted horns impede his progress by catching
in the branches of the forest trees.

The speed of which the deer is capable is indeed marvelous. He adds to
his power of fleet running a wonderful trick of bounding through
space. It is said that a deer may leap six or eight feet into the air,
and cover in a single bound a distance of eighteen to thirty feet. The
leap is performed without apparent haste or effort, the animal rising
gracefully into the air by a tiny toe-touch of the dainty hoofs. It is
a sort of wingless flying.[5] The deer is besides a strong swimmer,
and lakes and streams are no obstacles in his way.

[Footnote 5: See _The Trail of the Sandhill Stag_, by Ernest
Seton-Thompson, from which is also drawn the information about the
deer's moist nose.]

As we look into the noble face of the Monarch of the Glen, we feel a
sense of kinship with him, like the experience of Yan in the beautiful
story of "The Sandhill Stag." It was after following the trail of the
deer many days that the youth at last came suddenly face to face with
the object of his desire, "a wondrous pair of bronze and ivory horns,
a royal head, a noble form behind it." As they gazed into each other's
eyes, every thought of murder went out of Yan's heart, and gave place
to a strange sense of fellowship. "Go now without fear," he said, "but
if only you would come sometimes and look me in the eyes, and make me
feel