94 RABBITS, CATS, AND CAVIES 



front rank, if the competition is fairly keen, that the real 

 <c flyers " are few and far between. 



It is what I should call a sizeable, rather than a large 

 rabbit, not too long, or flat in the body and sides, with 

 shortish, erect, black ears, and feet and legs of medium 

 length ; the main part of the body colour is pure white, 

 with markings, which are almost invariably, at least I 

 do not remember seeing any others, either black, blue, 

 tortoiseshell or grey, but in my experience the blacks out- 

 number the others very considerably, and, I think, are the 

 prettiest animals ; but this of course is a matter of opinion. 



Besides the butterfly spot on the nose, there are cheek 

 markings and a spot at the side of each eye, but not 

 touching the rim of the eye. 



Then, there is a line of markings down the back, 

 called the trace ; and lines of spots from each side of the 

 neck, joining with the saddle marks on back and sides, 

 and called the chain ; then there are spots on the belly 

 (which is all white otherwise), which are generally insisted 

 on being seven in number. 



All the white should be as pure as possible, and the 

 contrasting colour, whether black, blue, tortoiseshell or 

 grey, pure in itself and unmixed with white. 



From the foregoing remarks it will be easy to see that 

 " Derby Winners '' cannot be bred in every litter of 

 English, as there are so many little matters in which they 

 may be found wanting. 



One great fault with many specimens is that they are 

 too heavy in their markings, and often too big, coarse 

 and chumpy themselves. 



