Page:VCH Essex 1.djvu/296

 A HISTORY OF ESSEX of persecution and want of protection, the results of the Ground Game Act. 12. Rabbit. Ltpus cuniculus, Linn. Much too abundant everywhere. UNGULATA 1. Red Deer. Cervus elaphus, Linn. Mr. J. E. Harting quotes (Essex Nat. i. 55) from a manuscript note by Gary himself in a copy of Gary's Survey of the Country fifteen miles round London, 1786 (owned by Mr. B. S. Cole), the statement that the Crown had an unlimited right to keep deer in Epping Forest, of which, duringCary's time, and also when Norden wrote his Description of Essex, 1594 (ed. 1840, p. 9), there was a goodly stock both of red and fallow deer. About 1827, according to Mr. J. E. Harting (Trans. Essex Field Club, i. 79), the last red deer were removed from Epping Forest to Windsor. Until that date this species had continuously from the earliest times been a resident in a wild condition in this county, as the various mention of red deer in the Forest records attest. It is stated (Fisher's Forest of Essex, 1887, p. 220) that an effort had been made a few years previously to restore red deer to the Forest by bringing back some from Windsor. The experiment, however, was not very successful, and so many complaints were made of the damage they caused that it was considered desirable to remove them, and orders were given for them to be destroyed. It is said (Zoologist, 1888, p. 74) that some still exist in the Forest, but whether there are any remaining or not the species may with justice be added to the list, for, with the exception of perhaps fifty years of the last century, the Forest has never been without wild red deer. Professor Flower records (Zoologist, 1887, p. 344) the existence of a small herd in Takeley Forest near Hat- field Broad Oak, the progeny of a single hind lost by the hounds during a chase. 2. Fallow Deer. Cervus dama, Linn. This animal is probably an introduction into Britain, but as it has been many cen- turies truly feral in Epping Forest, we may fairly claim it as an Essex animal. Although fossil or semi-fossil remains of the red and roe deer are not infrequently discovered, none of the fallow deer have yet come to light. The judicial decision which fortunately placed Epping Forest under the charge of the Corporation of London came just in time to save the remnant of the Epping fallow deer, as in 1870 the stock of the Forest had dwindled down to only five or six brace of deer and one buck (Fisher's Forest of Essex, p. 221 ; the Field, August 5, 1876, p. 156; and Zoologist, 1888, p. 74)- Mr. J. E. Harting says (Essex Nat. i. 46) : ' The fallow deer have held their own in spite of all difficulties until the present time, and have strangely preserved their ancient character in regard to size and colour. They are comparatively small in size, of a uniform dark brown, almost black colour, in which respect they vary from herds in other parts of the country, and with very attenuated antlers ' characters which he considers show by their persistency the probable antiquity of the stock. There are now at least 200 fallow deer in Epping Forest, all apparently with the same characteristics as above described. 3. Roe Deer. Capreolus capreolus, Linn. Bell Capreolus caprea. Mr. Harting shows (Essex Nat. i. 58) con- clusively from charters, court rolls, and other satisfactory proofs, some of them geological, that the roe was formerly an inhabitant of Essex. It disappeared from the forest of Essex apparently before Norden wrote his Description of Essex in 1594. Mr. Harting also details the active part he took, in company with Mr. E. N. Buxton, one of the verderers of Epping Forest, in successfully reintroducing to the Forest in 1884 this interesting and beautiful creature, and we are thereby enabled to add this species to the Essex list (see also Field, April 5, 1884, pp. 487-8). In 1897 the Field further reported that the roes were doing well, and are supposed to number over twenty. In excavating the remains of a Roman building at West Mersea, in 1897, bones and antlers of the roe deer, were found, with those of the sheep and the small Celtic ox. CETACEA I. Common Rorqual. Baleenoptera musculus, Linn. (Baleenoptera physalis). 1 There are numerous records of the capture or of the stranding of this whale on various 1 The names in brackets are those advocated by Dr. F. W. True, of the United States National Museum, in his revision of the names of the European whalebone whales (Pne. U.S. Nat. Mus. xxi. 61735). 258