^4 British Deer and their Horns 
too much, and, refusing to be made to squat, galloped away from her in a circle. She, 
however, followed close above him, and I saw her pressing again and again with her chin 
until the second little beast was forced to the ground, where she kept him down for a 
few seconds and then left him. The clever mother then ran a few yards towards us, 
cocked her ears, emitted a loud bark, and proceeded to gallop away as hard as she could 
into the cover as if her fear was only for herself. 
Roe fawns change their juvenile coats in September, and are clothed in the full 
winter coats of their parents in October. 
One of the many curious facts of roe natural history is that the rut does not take place, as 
THE LITTLE MISCHIEF-MAKER 
with other deer, immediately after, and as a natural consequence of, high condition. Roe are 
in their very best condition, sometimes even covered with layers of fat, from Christmas till the 
end of February, yet, oddly enough, March is not the rutting season. Towards the middle 
of June we generally hear the first bark of the love-stricken buck on the hill-side or in the 
woods. He is on the prowl about this season, and though there is undoubted evidence that 
he frequently returns to the same mate if she is not killed or frightened away from her usual 
range, they are seldom seen together as having actually mated till the middle of July. Many 
keen observers believe that the roe actually ruts in July, but after giving the subject the very 
closest investigation I am quite satisfied that this is not the case. The buck stays about with 
her, or in her vicinity, and even joins her in the early morning or late evening, when he 
frequently chases her in circles, but I am convinced that no actual rut takes place till the end 
of the first or beginning of the second week in August, more often the latter. The love 
