366 CERVIDiE. 



by the end of February. The engraving shows the 

 annual change of the antlers from the second to about 

 the sixth year. 



Both in Scotland and Germany Roe Deer are generally 

 killed by driving the woods with beaters, the sportsmen 

 having previously been posted so as to command their 

 favourite passes. The venison is considered to be inferior 

 to that of both the Red and Fallow Deer ; it is in best 

 condition in winter, whereas the Stag is only in season 

 during the summer months. 



Roe is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Rah, Raeh, which 

 is preserved in the Scottish Rae. The derivation of 

 the words Buck, Doe, and Fawn have already been 

 considered. 



A fine Roe Buck will stand twenty-six inches or rather 

 more, at the shoulder, and often weighs upwards of sixty 

 pounds. The head is short and abruptly tapered, the eye 

 rather large, the tear -pit very slightly developed, and the 

 ear about two-thirds as long as the head. The antlers are 

 short, upright, very rough and longitudinally furrowed; 

 the first tine is distant about two-thirds from the base 

 and is directed forwards, the second, higher up, has the 

 contrary direction ; very rarely each of the terminal 

 points is again subdivided. The neck is slender, the 

 body short, plump, and compact, the limbs long and 

 slender. The colour is reddish-brown in summer, which 

 is exchanged in autumn for a much thicker and finer 

 winter coat of yellowish-grey ; the lips are marked with 

 black and white, and the rump with a large patch of 

 pure white ; the belly and the inside of the limbs are 

 pale yellowish-fawn. Albinos are sometimes met with 

 both in Scotland and in Germany. 



The Roe is even more liable to malformations of the 

 antlers than the Red Deer. In normal horns the length 



