THE FALLOW DEER 93 



2. Less prone to gnawing and stripping the bark off saplings, 

 this only occurring in deer-parks, or very seldom in forests. 



3. Later in fraying the velvet from the antlers, yet, like red-deer, 

 selecting uncommon species of trees as fraying posts. 



FIG. 60. THE FALLOW DEER. 



The ROEBUCK or ROE-DEER (Capreolus caprcea or Cervus capreolus), 

 Fig. 61, once common throughout Britain, is now restricted to the 

 northern half of Scotland. It is smaller than the fallow-deer, being 

 about 2 ft. 3 in. at the shoulder, and its horns are compara- 

 tively small and little branched. The colour is bright reddish in 

 summer, the under-parts white. It does not live in herds like the 

 fallow-deer, but singly or in pairs, driving off its young when they 

 are about nine or ten months old. 



Roe-deer, as regards damage,- is notable for : 



1. Nibbling and browsing on the buds and young shoots of acacia, 

 ash, aspen, beech, larch, maple, oak, silver fir, and sycamore ; also, 

 in lesser degree, pines and spruces, and, least of all, alders and birches. 



2. Gnawing young trees most during the winter months in plan- 

 tations with a southern or south-western exposure, hence least on 

 northern or north-eastern slopes. 



3. Not gnawing or stripping the bark off saplings or trees of 

 pole size. 



4. Bucks selecting smooth, small saplings as fraying-stocks when 

 clearing their horns of velvet, and again during the rutting season, 



