i 4 THE MAMMALS OF THE WOODS 



many parts of the Continent they were originally inhabitants of the plains, but 

 incessant persecution and the progress of agriculture have driven them from the 

 low ground to the nearest hills. Roebuck prefer stretches of woodland among the 

 fields to the large forests ; their favourite haunts being where trees of all sorts and 

 sizes grow, and where the dense upper foliage does not check the growth of the 

 underwood and grasses and herbaceous plants beneath. They feed much under 

 oak, beech, elder, mountain-ash, wild pear, horse-chestnut, and other trees yielding 

 edible seeds or fruit ; and it is said that brushwood and even pine-leaves afford 

 them excellent food. Raspberry and blackberry, heather, bilberry, and broom, 

 complete the bill of fare of the roe, and also yield it convenient resting-places. 



During winter roebuck are generally silent in the forest, but in spring they 

 beo-in callino-. In some cases such a call merely means that a roebuck sees some- 

 thing suspicious, to which it desires to call attention, but more often it is a challenge 

 to the rival that the buck scents in the neighbourhood. In the first case it is a long- 

 drawn sound : in the latter, short and abrupt. While at the warning signal the 

 grazing roes raise their heads at once, they hardly notice the challenging voice, 

 and continue feeding quietly without taking any part in the proceedings of the 

 combatants. The call of the buck niaj- be easily distinguished from that of the 

 doe, not by the pitch of the sound, but by the longer or shorter manner in which 

 it is uttered. 



The bigger bucks have finished cleaning their antlers towards the middle 

 of April, at which time the younger ones begin ; in the woods at this season may 

 be found traces of their fore-hoofs near the trees they choose for this purpose. 

 When the cleaning is over, the bark of these young trees often hangs down in long 

 strings, and the branches are mostly broken. From the size of the branches 

 broken, from their height, from the cuts on them caused by the " pearls " of the 

 antlers, and from the length of the footprints, the sportsman draws his conclusions 

 as to the size and age of the buck. Roebuck leave such traces not only when 

 they are cleaning their antlers, but also when they are in a fit of anger or 

 excitement, or when seeking food in the ground, for they are fond of half-grown 

 mushrooms and truffles. They have the habit of trampling the ground in a 

 peculiar way when preparing their lairs ; but where they find dry leaves, or plenty 

 of grass, they lie down without any such preparations. 



In the middle of May, and sometimes earlier, they commence changing their 

 coat, and the grey hairs may then be found by the bushel in their resorts ; the 

 animals at this period, instead of being sleek and smooth, looking bristly and 

 ragged, with, in many instances, a conspicuous reddish patch on their neck and sides. 

 At first this change goes on very slowly, for the deer has to recover from the hard- 

 ships of winter by means of nourishing food, and the forming of new hair demands 

 an abundance of nutritive material, which can only be gradually assimilated. This 

 is the chief reason why the young turn red first, for they have neither to suckle a 

 calf, nor to grow antlers. At this season they browse on the young green sprigs of 

 ash, beech, elder, and hazel, but they also feed on grass, clover, and young com, 

 especially rye. They seem to drink only when sick, or when the leaves are dry ; 

 their thirst being so slight that the dew on plants and grasses is sufficient to 

 provide the fluid required. When they are thus living on their natural food, they 



