Class I. DEER. 5I 



of the hind leg, below the joint, is a tuft of long 

 hair. 



The make of the roebuck is very elegant, and 

 formed for agility. Thefe aninlals do not keep in 

 herds like other deer, but only in families ; tfiey 

 bring two fawns at a time, which the female is o- 

 bliged to conceal froai the buck while they are very 

 young. The flefh of this creature is reckoned a 

 delicate food. 



It is a tender animal, incapable of bearing great 

 cold. M, de Buff on tells us that in the hard win- 

 ter of 1 709, the fpecies in Burgundy were almoll 

 dellroyed, and many years pail before it was re- 

 ftored again. I was informed in Scotland^ that it 

 is very difficult to rear the fawns ; it being com- 

 puted that eight out of ten of thofe that are taken 

 from their parents die. 



Wild roes during' fumm'er feed on grafs, and arc 

 very fond of the ruhus faxatilis^ called in the high- 

 lands the roebuck berry ; but in winter time, when 

 the ground is covered with fnow, they brouze on 

 the tender branches of fir and birch. 



In the old JVelJh laws, a roebuck was valued at 

 the fame price as a (lie- goat ; a flag at the price 

 of an ox j and a fallow deer was efteemed equal to 

 that of a cow ; or, as fome fay, a he-goat *. 



It will not be foreign to the prefent fubjet^, to Fossn. 

 mention the vaft horns frequently found in Ireland^ 



* Leges Wallica^, 25 S- 



E 2 and 



Horns* 



