TORTOISESHELL PERSIANS. 



211 



standard is the same as for the other varieties 

 of long-haired cats. 



" One curious fact in connection with long- 

 haired tortoiseshells, which is well known to 

 fanciers, may be mentioned, namely, the non- 

 existence of the male sex. Among short- 

 haired tortoiseshells toms are exceedingly rare, 

 though one or two do exist ; but an adult long- 

 haired male appears to be absolutely unheard 

 of. The writer knows of one male kitten born 

 some years ago, but it was either born dead 

 or died in very early infancy. Darwin's 

 theory that the orange torn and tortoiseshell 

 queen were originally the male and female 

 of the same variety is borne out by the fact 

 that until recently orange females were also 

 rare. Of late years a good many of these have 

 been bred and reared, and therefore, if the 

 Darwinian theory be correct, it seems hard to 

 believe that the tortoiseshell torn must be 

 regarded as unattainable. If the difficulty 

 has been successfully overcome in the one case, 

 why not in the other ? Breeding with this 

 object in view is very slow work, for some 

 tortoiseshell queens will produce litter after 

 litter without a single kitten of their own 

 colour, and a family con- 

 sisting entirely of tortoise- 

 shells would be as wel- 

 come as it is rare. But it 

 would be a pity to despair 

 of breeding the long 

 looked for torn ; if he ever 

 does make his appearance, 

 he will be hailed with 



sufficient interest to gratify any quantity of 

 feline vanity. 



" At present, breeders hardly seem to recog- 

 nise the great value of a tortoiseshell queen 

 for breeding almost any variety of self-coloured 

 cat. If the queen is mated to an orange, a 

 cream, or a blue torn, she will be very likely to 

 produce at least one or two really good speci- 

 mens of the same colour as the sire, and some- 

 times a far larger proportion of the litter will 

 ' favour ' him. Much, of course, depends upon 

 how the queBn herself is bred, and this no doubt 

 accounts for disappointment in some cases. 



" Tortoiseshells compare very favourably 

 with the other varieties of long-haired cats in 

 the matter of intelligence. The writer knows 

 one which enjoys the well-earned reputation 

 of being the cleverest thief in the cattery. 

 Nothing is safe from her nimble paws ; she has 

 often been known to remove the lid from the 

 saucepan in which the meat for the cattery 

 supper had been placed, and make off with the 

 contents ; and if the cook's back should be 

 turned for only half a minute, woe to to- 

 morrow's dinner or to anything else tempting 

 which may chance to be within reach ! 



; ' Though tortoiseshells may 

 be distinguished for brains, some 

 of them certainly fail consider- 

 ably in temper. They seem to 

 find it most difficult to keep the 

 peace with the other members 

 of the cattery. I sincerely hope 

 thisbreedwill receive more atten- 

 tion from fanciers in the future. 



MISS KATK SANGSTKK'S " ROYAL YUM YUM." 



(I'lwto: W. V. Amey, Lanilpoft.) 



