34 ROE-SHOOTING. 



THE ROE : 



HABITS, MANNER OF SHOOTING, ETC. 



MANY of the woods that fringe our most romantic lochs 

 and glens abound with the roe ; its chief food being the 

 leaves in summer, and the tender tops of the trees in 

 winter. I do not mean to say that it is not also fond of 

 grass or clover, but the other is its most natural choice. 

 So destructive is it to young woods, that many gentlemen 

 give it no quarter on this account. Even trees of con- 

 siderable growth are not safe from its attacks; the buck 

 sometimes fixing his horns against the stem, walking 

 round and round until the ground is bared, and the bark 

 so injured that the tree dies. The favourite haunts of 

 the roe are those belts of young plantation, surmounted 

 by large pine forests, common throughout the Highlands ; 

 the former supply it with food, and the latter give it 

 shelter. 



The pursuit of the roe, if followed in a proper way, 

 affords first-rate sport, and taxes to the full the strength, 

 skill, and energy of the hunter; but this is seldom the 

 case, and the generality of roe-hunts are nothing but 

 blunders from beginning to end. The common way of 



