BROWN TABBY PERSIANS. 



223 



a silver. The varied beauties of blues, silvers, 

 whites, and blacks have never taken such a hold 

 upon me as compared with the fascination of 

 the browns, and it is quite a wonder to me 

 more fanciers do not breed them. Nothing 

 looks handsomer, to my mind, than a rich brown, 

 tabby male with tawny markings, like a young 

 lion, and judging from my experience they 

 amply repay any trouble taken by their loving 

 ways and robust health. I have a son of 

 ' Miss Wiggs ' and poor old ' Persimmon ' now, 

 who follows me like a little dog, even out in the 

 road, and goes for a walk running by my side. 



" Perhaps what would astonish a stranger 

 most on coming to see me is the way my catty 

 family lives in peace and contentment with 

 the dogs, and very often I find two or three 

 kittens in the dogs' basket very busily occupied 

 cleaning my little bull-terrier. It is a point of 

 honour amongst the happy family that they 

 never touch each other's food, and very rarely 

 is this broken, and not infrequently we see 

 three, and perhaps four, cats sitting round the 

 dog while he eats his dinner, waiting for any 

 leavings, and the same with the dog. Persians 

 have the reputation of being bad mousers. 

 ' Miss Wiggs ' makes quite the exception, and 

 on one occasion caught and killed two mice 

 at the same time ; one she held 

 in her paws and the other in 

 her mouth. Young rats also 

 she has many times brought in, 

 to show what a useful little 

 person she is, and her children 

 follow in her footsteps. 



" In a great measure I at- 

 tribute my brownies' good 

 health to the open-air life they 

 lead. From early morning to 

 when darkness approaches they 

 have the run of a large garden, 

 even on a wet day. They go 

 in and out of the houses as 

 they like ; never sleep indoors, 

 always in a very dry little out- 

 side cattery in summer on 

 benches, and in winter in nice 

 boxes with straw. 



" Perhaps, financially, blues or silvers may 

 be greater successes, but brownies have been 

 my first love and will always remain so. I 

 am only sorry I cannot show what a lovely 

 head and sweet face dear ' Miss Wiggs ' has, but 

 she absolutely declines to be photographed. 



" In time I hope more fanciers may realise 

 how rich in colour and markings a good brown 

 tabby is, and then we may hope to see this 

 beautiful breed brought more to the fore at all 

 the leading shows. 



" As ' Mis? Wiggs ' has been the foundress 

 of my cattery, perhaps a short description of 

 her would not be amiss. She is a ticked tabby 

 that is to say, she has not the broad, dark 

 stripes with tawny splashes ; her ground colour 

 is a beautiful golden brown, and down the 

 back and sides are pencilled stripes, more like 

 the markings on a silver. Round her face, 

 nose, and ears she has most lovely golden brown 

 shades ; eyes are green they used to be 

 amber ; her head is very broad and well shaped ; 

 and her expression is very sweet. 



"When mated to a silver, as she has been 

 twice, the litters have been equally divided 

 two silvers and two brownies ; but both silvers 

 and browns in that case had broad dark and 

 light markings, in no way resembling the ticking 



' PIONEER BOBS. 



OWNED BY Miss M. WASHBURN, SMITH'S FALLS, ONT. 

 (Photo: E. F. Briggs, Smith's Falls, Ont.) 



