10 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXI. 



Late in the afternoon I constantly see the roe 

 feeding on those clover-fields where there is suffi- 

 cient second growth to attract them. Nothing can 

 be more graceful than the light and agile move- 

 ments of this animal while nibbling the tender 

 shoots of the bushes or trees on which it feeds. 

 The wild-rose and the bramble are amongst its 

 favourite morsels ; from the long twigs of these 

 plants it nibbles off leaf by leaf in the most graceful 

 manner imaginable. As the leaves fall from the 

 birch and oak woods the roe quit them, and take 

 to the fir plantations, where they have more quiet 

 and shelter. The foresters accuse these animals of 

 being very destructive to their young oak-trees ; 

 and fond as I am of them, I am afraid that I must 

 admit the accusation is just, as they undoubtedly 

 prefer the topmost shoot of a young oak-tree to 

 almost any other food. Nevertheless, the mischief 

 done to the woods by roe is but trifling when com- 

 pared to that done by rabbits. Many an acre is 

 obliged to be replanted owing to their destructive 

 nibbling ; and in some of the beautiful woods of 

 Brodie I saw the fine holly-trees of many years' 

 growth, with stems of six inches in diameter, per- 

 fectly killed by being barked by rabbits. 



Most of the hill-bred hawks, such as hen-harriers, 

 merlins, peregrines, etc., come down now to hunt 



