MAMMALS. 97 



a hat-peg ! Amongst the series are several separate 

 antlers of the Roe-buck, and one small, but very perfect, 

 skull with the horns attached. In the Uriconian collec- 

 tion there is a handle made out of part of a Roe-buck's 

 horn, so that the animal was found wild here at the time 

 of the Roman occupation. The writer does not know 

 of any other remains of Roe Deer being found in Shrop- 

 shire, nor has he discovered any historical evidence of 

 the date when it became locally extinct. We can only 

 surmise that it disappeared from the County about the 

 fourteenth or fifteenth century, for it is stated to have 

 lingered in Wales till the time of Queen Elizabeth. The 

 only districts in Britain where it now occurs wild are, 

 Scotland and the extreme north of England, though it has 

 been re-introduced into Dorsetshire, and certain other 

 Southern Counties. The Roe is much smaller than either 

 of our other Deer, and differs from them in many of its 

 habits. In the first place the two sexes remain together 

 throughout the year, and it never associates in herds ; as 

 a rule only from two to four are found together. It is 

 essentially a forest -haunting animal, and may be seen 

 grazing, morning and evening, between the trees ; it 

 also feeds at night, and will then sometimes descend on 

 to cultivated land and do some damage to grain-crops. 

 If alarmed it dashes off at a great pace, progressing by 

 a series of graceful bounds. It is of a curious disposition 

 and will come close up to examine anything presenting 

 an unusual appearance. The doe gives birth to two 

 fawns about May or June. The horns of the buck are 

 simple and straight the first winter after birth, forked 

 the next year, while the three tines are developed in the 

 third winter. After this they only gradually increase in 



