38 THE ROE-DEER, OR THE ROEBUCK. 



I have particularly noticed, however, that whereas 

 one can walk through the woods on Sunday and 

 see more roe-deer than one cares to count, there 

 is never a deer to be seen when one is cover- 

 shooting, and the sound of a shot has once dis- 

 turbed the echoes. 



I remember, after an afternoon's random pheasant- 

 shooting, we passed homewards through a strip of 

 covert where we were accustomed to seeing roe- 

 deer daily ; and on nearing this strip a member of 

 the party asked our host if there was any objection 

 to his taking a shot at a roe. ' No,' the host replied 

 with a covert smile ; ' you may shoot all the roe- 

 deer you see.' 



Exactly what sport was to be derived from 

 shooting at a half-tame roe-deer with a shot-gun is 

 difficult to understand, and when such an incident 

 occurs it is usually a matter of necessity rather 

 than sport. Roe-deer multiply very quickly, and 

 unless killed off by some means or other are capable 

 of considerable destruction, while they do little to 

 pay their way beyond beautifying the woods. In 

 most parts of Scotland they are not highly esteemed 

 as sporting animals, and I have noticed repeatedly 

 that when roe deer and red have appeared on the 

 menu, the carver of the roe-deer, who must indeed 

 be skilled with the carving-knife, has proved the 

 idlest man at the board. 



CUNNING. 



I have often wondered what becomes of the roe- 

 deer when the woods are being scoured for other 

 game. Where do they hide themselves ? At one 

 time we used regularly to walk up a narrow covert 

 completely surrounded by open moorland. It was a 

 favourite haunt of many roe-deer, but when the guns 



