74 THE MAMMALS, REPTILES, AND FISHES OF ESSEX.
brought back from Windsor to re-stock Epping Forest (see
W. R. Fisher's Forest of Essex, London, 1887, 4to, p. 220).
Professor Flower records (Zool., 1887, p. 344) the existence of
a small herd in Takeley Forest, near Hatfield Broad Oak,
the progeny of a single hind lost by the hounds during a
chase. A writer in the Zoologist (1888, p. 74) testifies that
both Red and Fallow Deer are still existing in Epping Forest.
We may therefore with justice add this species to our list
of the Fauna of Essex, since, with the exception of about
fifty years of the present century, Essex has never been with-
out wild Red Deer.
The curious variation of names for the young of the Red
Deer, of both sexes, is the subject of an interesting paragraph
in Fisher's Forest of Essex (p. 193) ; and Mr. Harting has
described (Trans. Essex Field Club, vol. i., p. 80) the growth
of antlers which determines the names. Thus the animal is
known by the names of a Calf, a Brocket, a Spayad, a Staggard,
the fifth year a Stag, and in and after the sixth year, a Hart.
But, if he had been hunted by the King he became a Hart
Royal, and, if the King, in consideration of the sport given,
had proclaimed he was not to be hunted again, he became
a Hart Royal Proclaimed. The female, called first a Calf,
next a Herst, from the third year onwards is a Hind.
Some information as to the number of Red Deer now
existing in Essex Deer Parks is given under the heading
Fallow Deer (infra, p. 76).
Cervus dama, Linn. Fallow Deer.
This animal is probably an introduction into Britain, of
which it is not therefore a true native ; but, as it exists in
many parks in this county in a semi-domesticated condition,
and has been for many centuries truly feral in Epping
Forest, we may fairly claim it as an Essex animal. It is by
some supposed to have been introduced by the Romans.