222 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



MRS. D'ARCY HILDYARD'S " SULPHURLAND. : 



(Photo: BoxeH & Co., Scarboro'.) 



Mr. Heslop as having owned some splendid 

 specimens, and at one time he used to exhibit 

 quite a number at our Southern shows. Miss 

 Eggett, of Manchester, has a grand tabby of 

 the golden order named " Cleopatra." Mrs. 

 Whittaker has some nice specimens, and 

 Mrs. Mackenzie's "Cleo" was much admired 

 at the Westminster show in 1900, when she 

 took first in her class. Mrs. Ricketts has 

 always been partial to the breed, and Mrs. 

 Stead's " Timber " has done some winning. 

 Miss Gray's " Lady Babbie " was one of the 

 finest brown queens that used to visit " Per- 

 simmon," and another was Miss Meeson's 

 " Jolie," whom I used greatly to admire. 

 Miss Derby Hyde exhibits a wonderful copper- 

 coloured brown tabby called " Maraquetta," 

 who, if only possessed of a good head and 

 shorter face, would be a splendid specimen. 

 Mrs. Davies formerly owned " Susan," a cat 

 now in the possession of Mrs. G. Wilson, very 

 good in colour and markings, but failing in 

 head and face. Mr. Western, of Sandy, has 

 a good male in " Wynstay Monarch." In 

 the West of England Mrs. Hellings and Mrs. 

 Gregory are admirers and breeders of brown 

 tabbies. 



Mrs. Gregory, of Bath, started breeding 

 brown tabbies in 1899. Her female (a black) 

 she mated to her stud cat " Azor," and, 

 curiously enough, all the litters have consisted 

 of brown tabbies, the kittens numbering 



sixteen in all. When, how- 

 ever, " Queen Caterpillar " 

 was mated to Mrs. Gregory's 

 blue Persian, her kittens were 

 all black. 



A picture of two pretty 

 brown tabby kittens bred by 

 Mrs. Gregory appears in this 

 chapter. I am happy to say 

 that Mrs. Gregory intends 

 to continue breeding brown 

 tabbies, and has kept a 

 handsome specimen from one 

 of her recent litters to per- 

 petuate the strain. Mrs. 

 Drury, of Graffham, is very 

 faithful to the brownies, and in her lovely 

 old-fashioned cottage near Petworth she is 

 always surrounded by several of her pet 

 pussies. She writes as follows : 



" When first I received a margarine basket, 

 and out of it came a little brown fluffy kitten, 

 I knew no more about Persian cats than the 

 man in the moon in fact, he probably knew 

 more, as he is frequently the only witness to 

 their nocturnal gambols. I had heard of such 

 things as Persian cats, yet never remember 

 having seen one. However, kind friends soon 

 gave me a helping hand, and as time went on 

 and my fluffy kitten became a fluffy cat, being 

 passionately fond of animals, I soon found out 

 the very fascinating ways of dear ' Miss Wiggs,' 

 so named because the fur on her head in her 

 kitten days would stand erect, and it is the 

 only name she condescended to answer to. 

 She has been and is so still, in spite of all her 

 maternal cares and five years' experience 

 one of the healthiest pussies imaginable, and 

 has never had one day's illness since she came 

 into my possession, though I believe, in her 

 babyhood, distemper nearly carried her off ; 

 and all her children have been equally healthy 

 in fact, I have never lost one of her kittens, 

 which is, I imagine, almost a unique experi- 

 ence. 



" ' Miss Wiggs ' came from a blue father and 

 a silver mother, but has, with one exception, 

 always had brown babies, even when mated to 



