ey are timid upon ordinary occasions, but the bucks in the rutting
season are bold, and when wounded and brought "to bay," are not to be
approached with impunity. They can inflict terrible blows, both with
their hoofs and antlers; and hunters who have come too near them on such
occasions have with difficulty escaped being gored to death.

They are foes to the snake tribe, and kill the most venomous serpents
without being bitten. The rattle-snake hides from their attack. Their
mode of destroying these creatures is similar to that employed by the
peccary (_dicotyles_): that is, by pouncing down upon them with the four
hoofs held close together, and thus crushing them to death. The
hostility of the peccary to snakes is easily understood, as no sooner
has it killed one than it makes a meal of it. With the deer, of course,
such is not the case, as they are not carnivorous. Its enmity to the
reptile race can be explained only by supposing that it possesses a
knowledge of their dangerous qualities, and thinks they should therefore
be got rid of.

The food of the American deer consists of twigs, leaves of trees, and
grass. They are fonder of the tree-shoots than the grass; but their
favourite morsels are the buds and flowers of _nymphae_, especially
those of the common pond-lily. To get these, they wade into the lakes
and rivers like the moose, and, like them, are good swimmers.

They love the shady forest better than the open ground, and they haunt
the neighbourhood of streams. These afford them protection, as well as
a means of quenching thirst. When pursued, their first thought is to
make for water, in order to elude the pursuer, which they often succeed
in doing, throwing both dogs and wolves off the scent. In summer, they
seek the water to cool themselves, and get free from flies and
mosquitoes, that pester them sadly.

They are fond of salt, and repair in great numbers to the salines, or
salt springs, that abound in all parts of America. At these they lick
up quantities of earth along with the salt efflorescence, until vast
hollows are formed in the earth, termed, from this circumstance, salt
"licks." The consequence of this "dirt-eating" is, that the excrement
of the animal comes forth in hard pellets; and by seeing this, the
hunters can always tell when they are in the neighbourhood of a "lick."

The does produce in spring--in May or June, according to the latitude.
They bring forth one, two, and very r