MS M.1044, fols. 56v–57r

Listening for the Hart's Bell
During the month of September when the male hart was in rut, its belling, or roaring, would permit a trained hunter to locate and judge it by ear alone. In the upper left of the miniature are two great old harts belling, extending their necks, and showing their teeth in order to attract the females opposite them. Their voices would have been deep and harsh, gurgly, or throaty. The bell of a young hart would be higher and less intense. Phoebus advised the hunter to listen for the hart at daybreak, illustrated here by the rays of light that have already reached the mountain peak on the horizon.