268 



ANIMALS OF 



by a bound, goes to one side, lies flat upon 

 its belly, and permits the pack to pass by very 

 near, without offering to stir. 



But the roe-buck differs not only from the 

 stag in superior cunning, but also in its natu- 

 ral appetites, its inclinations, and its whole 

 habits of living. Instead of herding together, 

 these animals live in separate families ; the 

 sire, the dam, and the young ones, associate 

 together, and never admit a stranger into 

 their little community. AH others of the deer 

 kind are inconstant in their affection ; but the 

 roe-buck never leaves its mate ; and, as they 

 have been generally bred up together from 

 their first fawning, they conceive so strong an 

 attachment, the male for the female, that they 

 never after separate. Their rutting-season 

 continues but fifteen days ; from the latter end 

 of October to about the middle of November. 

 They are not at that time, like the stag, over- 

 loaded with fat; they have not that strong 

 odour,which is perceived in all others of the 

 deer kind ; they have none of those furious 

 excesses ; nothing, in short, that alters their 

 state : they only drive away their fawns upon 

 these occasions; the buck forcing them to 

 retire, in order to make room for a succeed- 

 ing progeny; however, when the copulating 

 season is over, the fawns return to their does, 

 and remain with them some time longer: after 

 which, they quit them entirely, in order to 

 begin an independent family of their own. 

 The female goes with young but five months 

 and a half, which alone serves to distinguish 

 this animal from all others of the deer kind, 

 that continue pregnant more than eight. In 

 this respect, she rather approaches more 

 nearly to the goat kind ; from which, how- 

 ever, this race is separated by the male's 

 annually casting its horns. 



When the female is ready to bring forth, 

 she seeks a retreat in the thickest part of the 

 woods, being not less apprehensive of the 

 buck, from whom she then separates, than of 

 the wolf, the wild-cat, and almost every rave- 

 nous animal of the forest; she generally pro- 

 duces two at a time, and three hut very rare- 

 ly. In about ten or twelve days these are 

 able to follow the dam, except in cases of 

 warm pursuit, when their strength is not equal 

 to the fatigue. Upon such occasions, the ten- 

 derness of the dam is very extraordinary; leav- 



ing them in the deepest thickets, she offers 

 herself to the danger, flies before the hounds, 

 and does all in her power to lead them from 

 the retreat where she has lodged her little 

 ones. Such animals as are nearly upon her 

 own level she boldly encounters ; attacks the 

 stag, the wild-cat, and even the wolf; and 

 while she has life, continues her efforts to pro- 

 tect her young. Yet all her endeavours are 

 often vain ; about the month of May, which is 

 her fawning time, there is a greater destruc- 

 tion among those animals than at any other 

 season of the year. Numbers of the fawns are 

 taken alive by the peasants; numbers are 

 found out, and worried by the dogs ; and still 

 more by the wolf, which has always been their 

 most inveterate enemy. By these continual 

 depredations upon this beautiful creature, the 

 roe-buck is every day becoming scarcer; and 

 the whole race in many countries is wholly 

 worn out. They were once common in Eng- 

 land; the huntsmen, who characterized only 

 such beasts as they knew, have given names 

 to the different kinds and ages as to the stag: 

 thus they called it the first year a hind; the 

 second, a gyrle ; and the third, a -hemuse; but 

 these names at present are utterly useless, 

 since the animal no longer exists among us. 

 Even in France, where it was once extreme- 

 ly common, it is now confined to a few pro- 

 vinces ; and it is probable that in an age or 

 two the whole breed will be utterly extirpated. 

 Mr. Buffbn. indeed, observes, that in those 

 districts where it is mostly found, it seems to 

 maintain its usual plenty, and that the balance 

 between its destruction and increase is held 

 pretty even ; however, the number in general 

 is known to decrease; for wherever cultiva- 

 tion takes place, the beasts of nature are 

 known to retire. Many animals that once 

 flourished in the world may now be extinct; 

 and the descriptions of Aristotle and Pliny, 

 though taken from life, may be considered as 

 fabulous, as their archetypes are no longer 

 existing. 



The fawns continue to follow the deer eight 

 or nine months in all ; and, upon separating, 

 their horns begin to appear simple, and with- 

 out antlers, the first year, as in those of the 

 stag kind." These they shed at the latter 



a Buffon, vol. xii. p. 88. 



