228 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



colour, and to one who grows accustomed to 

 these they are fascinating and add to the 

 general beauty of the cat, and seem natural and 

 as though they ought to be there, and one is 

 not so overweighted with a sense of continual 

 sameness as may be apparent in a whole colour. 

 I must confess, personally speaking, I have 

 become used to bars and stripes. I miss them 

 when I contemplate a self-coloured Persian. 



" I once had a good many brown tabby 

 Persians, and people did not fancy them, 

 as they said, 'They are so like ordinary 

 cats ' a great mistake ; but by gentle 

 persuasion I managed to get one or two 

 adopted. One lady some time afterwards 

 candidly confessed, ' I could not now be satis- 

 fied with any other kind, I should miss the 

 stripes so much on the face.' That is just it ; 

 in a tabby you have a little more than your 

 neighbours, who go in for self-coloured cats, 

 and, though for the time being they are not 

 quite so fashionable, you can chuckle to your- 

 self if you own one, and feel quietly superior 

 to fashion and the common herd, and hold your 

 tabby still closer to your heart, and purr 

 softly to yourself with 'satisfaction at its 

 possession ; for I think one may say that for 

 good all-round, everyday, reliable qualities, 

 the brown tabby stands pre-eminent. 



" His constitut'on being good, he is not 

 peevish ; he stands cold and heat, change 

 of climate and surroundings, better on an 

 average than any. Brown tabbies should have 

 the under-coat a good golden hue, the markings 

 black, clear, and distinct, rather too many 

 than too few. A good-shaped body, lots of 

 bone, a bold head, red nose, golden eyes, well 

 marked on the chest, and no light colour on 

 the lips and chin. These cats may with 

 advantage be a good size. With care, the 

 under colour may be bred to a grand copper 

 colour ; a grey hue in brown tabbies is most 

 undesirable." 



As regards brown tabbies in America, " King 

 Humbert " and his children have always held 

 their own. " Humbert " was bred in England, 

 and as he is now dead I may be allowed to say 

 that when fit and in good condition a better- 



coloured and smarter show cat never stood in 

 a pen or outside, and he loved to show himseli 

 off. The best kitten bred from him was 

 " Jasper." He was very short in leg, and 

 quite lost in coat, his feet being hardly visible." 



To the readers of that very excellent 

 American publication The Cat Journal the 

 handsome portrait of " Crystal," the brown 

 tabby, is very familiar. The editor, Mr. 

 C. H. Jones, writes thus to me : '" I am 

 sending you some pictures as promised. The 

 large photo is ' Champion Crystal,' son of 

 ' Humbert,' a beautiful cat as to type and 

 disposition. A peculiar thing about ' Crys- 

 tal's ' kittens is that they do not show very 

 long hair till they are several months old." 



And now a few remarks as regards the 

 mating of brown tabbies. I have tried 

 several experiments, but if I were wishing 

 to breed fine specimens I should continue 

 to mate brown tabbies with brown tab- 

 bies. Such mating frequently results in a 

 black or two, and these are generally good 

 ones. The orange cross is sometimes success- 

 ful in introducing a brighter tone, but I confess 

 I have not had very good results from these 

 attempts. I have on several occasions mated 

 blues to my brown tabby stud, and although 

 blue tabbies have appeared in the litters, I have 

 also obtained blues with very grand heads, 

 plenty of bone, and massive build. My famous 

 " Beauty Boy," a well-known winner and sire 

 of bygone days, was bred from " Rajah " (a 

 brown) and "Mater" (a blue). I have been 

 told by silver breeders that a brown tabby cross 

 with chinchillas has often proved advantageous. 

 It might be imagined that the silvers would 

 be tinged with brown or streaked, but I have 

 been assured this is by no means usual, and 

 that the litters consist of good brown tabbies 

 and equally pure silvers. 



A well-known breeder of silvers says : 

 " Although it may be incorrect to cross silvers 

 and browns, it is often most successful. My 

 first torn was a brown tabby with a white 

 chin, and being mated with a silver queen the 

 kittens were good browns and exquisite silvers, 

 and there were lots of winners amongst them. 



