48 THE ROE-DEER, OR THE ROEBUCK. 



December, and by late February the new ones are 

 almost perfect. 



VOICE. 



Roe-deer use their voices considerably when 

 feeding at night-time, when disturbed, and during 

 the rutting season when a pair accidentally become 

 separated. The doe is said to have a bleating cry 

 of her own at this season, which is instantly 

 answered by the buck, but I have never heard it. 

 The only cry I know is the sharp, barking note, 

 which resembles strongly the bark of a dog, but 

 which, once learnt, cannot be mistaken. The 

 deer utter it constantly when startled and bound- 

 ing off, barking as they run, the notes coinciding 

 with the bounds, as though the impacts with the 

 earth were partly responsible. If one becomes 

 separated from the rest, it can be heard bounding 

 up and down the forest, uttering the call re- 

 peatedly, and when conditions are favourable, as 

 on a summer night, the note carries a considerable 

 distance. I have heard it across the middle of 

 Loch Ken, over a mile of water, the deer being 

 high in the forest on the opposite shore. 



SIZE. 



About 24| inches seems to be the average 

 height of the Scottish roe (buck), as compared 

 with 36 inches in the spotted variety of fallow 

 deer, and 47 or 48 inches in the red deer. A 

 roe standing 26 inches at the withers is a large 

 specimen, and the female is considerably smaller. 



