,6 THE MAMMALS OF THE WOODS 



by whom it is licked all over, and suckled continually to appease its hunger. If 

 a fox attack the fawn, the mother drives him off with her fore-legs. Having 

 done so, she runs quickly back to her young one, which she finds lying with its 

 head stretched forward and its legs pressed close to the ground, as is the habit of 

 the young when in danger during the first weeks of life. They also assume 

 the same position when the mother utters the danger-signal, or when they hear 

 a human voice in the forest. When the fawns are from four to six weeks old, 

 they follow their mother to the grazing-places ; nibbling occasionally at the clover, 

 though their taste for this has not then been acquired. As a pastime they soon 

 take to frisking about, when their stiff and awkward movements are very 

 noticeable. 



During the night roe-deer remain in the meadows and fields; with the dawn 

 they are on their legs again for the morning feed, after which they return slowly 

 to the forest. On sultry days they are restless, and it is then useless to try and 

 stalk them at their usual grazing-places. If it rains, roes do not remain among 

 bushes, but retire into those portions of the forest where there is nothing but 

 trees, and stay there till the weather improves, when they go back to the 

 meadows and fields. 



The changing of the coat continues till the middle of June ; solitary grey 

 hairs being sometimes found later on. The thin summer coat shows the graceful 

 form of the animal best; but the tormenting mosquitoes and flies make life in the 

 woods almost unendurable, and in order to escape these pests, roe-deer then live in 

 the fields, or in meadows where the grass is high. Even in June the young bucks 

 seem to begin rutting, for now and then one will drive a doe, uttering a long, 

 sharp praah, several times in succession. In the plains the pairing-time is at its 

 height towards the end of July, and in the lower mountain districts about a week 

 or so later : but pairing-roes are still to be found in the middle of August, and in 

 the Tyrol the bucks may be seen driving the does so late as the end of that 

 month. 



One buck generally has two or three does, but if there are not many, he 

 is content with one. When the pairing-time begins the bucks search for the does 

 either straight ahead or in large circles ; later on the circles grow smal ler and smaller, 

 and in this way they make beaten paths with a diameter of 6 feet or there- 

 abouts, called pairing-circles or pairing-rings. In the forest a tree or a dead stem 

 generally forms the centre, but the paths are only found in the grass, or in 

 cornfields. The pugnacity of the bucks is greater than ever at this season, and 

 their dead bodies frequently show the way in which these combats end. 



Forty weeks after pairing, i.e. in May, the doe brings forth one or two fawns 

 in some sequestered spot; and, after a few hours, these are able to follow their 

 mother. In rare cases there may be three or even four fawns. During pairing- 

 time the mother separates from her fawns, but when this is over they rejoin her : 

 later on those of two years of age join the band, and by September they are all 

 together, generally in troops of from eight to ten. 



The changing of the coat now commences again, and by the middle of October 

 scarcely any red-haired roe are to be found. At this time some of the bigger 

 bucks begin to cast their antlers, but most of them do not shed these before 



