JTe&ruarp 



VI 



IT is a grievous pity that it is impossible to reconcile the 

 interests of forestry, agriculture, or horticul- 

 ture with the presence of the most graceful of 

 all British mammals the roe (Capreolus capreolus). Its 

 exceeding beauty makes one loth to decree its destruc- 

 tion ; but when our lowland woods are invaded, as com- 

 monly happens in winter, by small companies of roe 

 from the uplands, we have to harden our hearts and take 

 measures offensive. If these elegant immigrants were 

 spared, they would soon multiply to become a serious 

 nuisance, for the doe usually bears two fawns at a birth 

 about the beginning or middle of June. It is remark- 

 able that in the roe the period of gestation is about 

 forty weeks, being six or eight weeks longer than in 

 the red hind, which only exceptionally bears more than 

 one calf at a birth. 



It is practically impossible to protect crops from 

 the ravages of roe, and equally impossible to withhold 

 admiration from the careless grace with which they 

 leap any fence of ordinary dimensions. A few morn- 

 ings ago (I am writing in January 1919) I happened to 



63 



