too much, and, refusing to be made to squat, galloped away from her in a circle. She,
however, followed close above him, and I saw her pressing again and again with her chin
until the second little beast was forced to the ground, where she kept him down for a
few seconds and then left him. The clever mother then ran a few yards towards us,
cocked her ears, emitted a loud bark, and proceeded to gallop away as hard as she could
into the cover as i f her fear was only for herself.
Roe fawns change their juvenile coats in September, and are clothed in the full
winter coats of their parents in October.
One o f the many curious facts o f roe natural history is that the rut does not take place, as
with other deer, immediately after, and as a natural consequence of, high condition. Roe are
in their very best condition, sometimes even covered with layers o f fat, from Christmas till the
end o f February, yet, oddly enough, March is not the rutting season. Towards the middle
o f June we generally hear the first bark o f the love-stricken buck on the hill-side or in the
woods. He is on the prowl about this season, and though there is undoubted evidence that
he frequently returns to the same mate i f she is not killed or frightened away from her usual
range, they are seldom seen together as having actually mated till the middle of July. Many
keen observers believe that the roe actually ruts in July, but after giving the subject the very
closest investigation I am quite satisfied that this is not the case. T h e buck stays about with
her, or in her vicinity, and even joins her in the early morning or late evening, when he
frequently chases her in circles, but I am convinced that no actual rut takes place till the end
o f the first or beginning o f the second week in August, more often the latter. The love
chase frequently goes on for eight or ten minutes, the buck chasing the doe in a small circle,
but she will not receive his addresses till the date I have mentioned. A stalker, on whom I
can rely, has told me that he has seen a buck chase a doe in this manner for half an hour, at
the end o f which time neither could run another step, and I have myself seen them chase
each other for a long time.
The bark o f the buck is loud, sharp, and deep in tone, not unlike what a single call
might be from an old collie. At this season, too, the female gives an amorous call when she
wishes the male to come to her. I f he is within hearing, he puts his neck out straight and
comes full speed to her. In Germany many roebucks are shot by alluring them in this
manner, and calls exactly imitating her voice are made for sportsmen’s use. One who has
shot roe in this manner tells me it is most exciting sport, for the buck comes straight for the
sound at full speed, and will only stop, startled, for a second, when he discovers the fraud,
and as often as not he passes right on without giving a chance.
By the end o f August in the high grounds o f Scotland, where the roe have the chance