A son of the above, which Mr. Lucas kindly presented to me, is scarcely inferior,
although it did not have so many points. Its dropped horns are as follows: 1893,
4 points; 1894, 15 points; 1895, 17 points; 1896, 21 points; 1897, 18 points;
1898, 21 points ; 1899, 28 points ; 1900, 24 points; 1901, 25 points, weight 17 pounds;
1902, 21 points; 1903, 32 points, weight about 18 poundfp At twelve years of age
this Stag was declining rapidly, so it was killed.
Another Warnham head, killed in 1904, has an outside span that has never
been exceeded by a British Stag past |precent, no«ess than fifty-four inches from
outside to outside of its projecting top points.
The finest example of a park Stag’s head of the normal type which I have seen
was carried by a straw-coloured Stag in Sir Robert Harvey’s Park at Langley, Bucks;
in 1896. This head the owner killed and presented to me. It is one inch shorter
than the big Melbury head, but its span is greater and it possesses, far finer tops.
On the whole I think that the Melbury heads are the prettiest, as they are
generally of beautiful shape and of rough black horn with light tips to the tines.
Vaynol heads, though sometimes large, are somewhat disappointing, but Welbeck,
Ashridge, and Bridge occasionally produce a good head, and for size those of Stoke
are next to Warnham. A good pair of cast horns will weigh as much as
10 pounds, but the horns of the Warnham 47-pointer were over 17 pounds in
weight, while; the antlers of the 33-pointer in my possession are probably slightly
over this weight, since two years before the animal’s death they weighed i6£ pounds
when not nearly so large as the final pair.
P a r k S tags ’ H eads
ference between
bay
and tray
overall Points Locality O’ " “
HI 6 f 40 6 + 6 Melbury, Dorset Earl o f Ilchester.
4 1 7 + 6 Langley, Bucks J. G. Millais.
7 + 7 Bristol Sir G. Smythe, Bart.
37i 2 7 * 10 + 9 Welbeck Duke o f Portland.
7i Warnham C. J. Lucas.
3 6
3 3
3 9
3 4
3 3
6 *
7
30
4 5 *
4 3
6 + 6
4 4
3 3
Vaynol
Warnham
Warnham
Mrs. Assheton-Smith.
C. J. Lucas.
J. G. Millais.
6 2 5 * 4 4 24 Warnham C. J. Lucas.
23 ^ 5 4 2 26 Warnham C. J. Lucas.
I 3I stone clean weight. 2 A head o f extraordinary width on the outside.
O
VOL. III.