234 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



with white spots were 'Cain,' 'Nankipoo,' and 

 ' Kingfisher,' all grand blues with this blemish. 



" In 1892 Mrs. Pattison's exquisitely shaped 

 and coated orange-and-white ' Chicot ' (pedi- 

 greeless), then shown as tabby with or without 

 white, established a record by winning as best 

 in show at the Crystal Palace. Other tabby - 

 and-white cats have done well. 

 Miss Malony used to show some 

 good ones ; the best, ' Lindfield 

 Sweet William,' was a blue tabby- 

 and - white, very massive and 

 heavily coated, son of the smoke 

 ' Lindfield Bogie.' Mrs. Pearce, 

 of New Barnet, also used to win 

 with tabby-and-white cats, and 

 Mr. Law's ' Buffer ' was a cele- 

 brity in his day, but whether 

 he was a brown tabby or an 

 A.O.C. is doubtful ; he was later 

 known as 'Leopold.' The Hon. 

 Mrs. McLaren Morrison had a 

 really good silver tabby with 

 white feet in ' Kepwick Silver 

 King ' ; and later Miss Snell's 

 grand-headed 'Wonderland' 

 made a small sensation. 



" Another good cat which won 

 in an A.O.C. class is Lady Mait- 

 land's ' Cheeky Blue,' a lovely 

 blue with a sprinkling of white 

 hairs on her body. Blue and smoke tortoise- 

 shells are freaks, and not really exhibition 

 cats at all, but are by some people considered 

 useful for breeding. Personally, I do not 

 think they are capable of producing anything 

 which a definitely coloured cat of proper 

 ancestry cannot produce as well or better. 

 When cream queens were unavailable they had 

 to be used, but now they are becoming un- 

 necessary. Perhaps the best is Miss W. Beal's 

 ' R. Fluffie.' Mrs. D'Arcy Hildyard's ' Sengo 

 of the Durhams ' was another. Miss Taylor's 

 ' Tawney ' began life as a blue with a few 

 yellow marks, and wound up as a good tor- 

 toiseshell, though a trifle too red. Mrs. 

 Cunliffe Lee's 'Tiger,' a kind of yellow-brown, 

 more ticked than marked, and principally dis- 



THE CONQUEST OF THE AIR. 



(Photo : E. Lamior, Baling.) 



tinguished by his great coat, made his mark 

 in the A.O.C. classes. 



" Of blue tabby cats which have won well 

 (mostly bred from blues and silver tabbies) 

 there is a long list. They became common 

 through the craze for blues, as silver queens 

 were sent to blue toms. Later the desire for 

 chinchillas started them afresh, 

 as blue queens were sent to chin- 

 chilla toms. 



" Mrs. Herring's 'Braemar' was 

 a son of ' Cceruleus ' by ' Turko ' ; 

 ' Upwood Dew ' and ' Camera ' 

 are from the ' Timkins ' strain ; 

 Miss Jebb's ' Julius Caesar,' Miss 

 Rae's 'Romanoff,' Miss Nicholay's 

 ' Sacho,' and Miss Jay's ' Holm- 

 wood Skittles ' were all celebrated 

 cats. Some of these have thrown 

 beautiful kittens, both blues and 

 chinchillas ; and as a makeshift, 

 when a correctly coloured cat of 

 the required pedigree is unavail- 

 able, they may, when judiciously 

 mated, be found useful ; but good 

 breeders will part with all mis- 

 marked kittens for pets. The 

 best and most definitely coloured 

 A.O.C. I ever saw was Mrs. 

 Davies' ' Sin Li,' a deep self- 

 coloured chocolate - brown cat. 

 He was supposed to be one of three Swiss 

 mountain cats imported to this country, and 

 he was a most handsome and interesting 

 animal. Unfortunately, he died young, leaving 

 no progeny. Another interesting A.O.C. cat 

 I have seen was a short-haired neuter, red, 

 with black stripes and white paws and chest. 

 In the future I hope to see a variety of strange 

 cats in the A.O.C. classes, but at present they 

 are very uninteresting. Good suggestions for 

 future colours are red, orange, blue, or white 

 with black stripes, chestnut-brown self- 

 coloured, and black with white tips to the fur. 

 So far as I can see, it should be possible by 

 crossing with various foreign breeds to produce 

 in a few years' time cats of all these colours." 

 One of the finest " any other colour " cats 



