THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



chin should always be retained to breed from, 

 even if it fails in some other points. 



It is, I know, the general opinion that the 

 craze for chinchillas has ruined the silver tabby, 

 but I do not feel convinced that this is so. I 

 am of the opinion that the constant breeding 

 of silver tabby to silver tabby will eventually 

 result in the production of poorly marked cats. 

 Let me give an example : " Felix Mottisford " 

 was a very heavily barred son of " Champion 

 Felix," and " Patz " was also heavily barred 

 and bred from silver tabbies. Two of their 

 kittens were " Silver Midget " and " My 

 Fairy." " Midget " was a prettily marked 

 silver tabby, but much lighter than her 

 parents, and showed a strong tendency to 

 throw unmarked kittens. " Fairy " was cer- 

 tainly a silver tabby, but her markings were 

 entirely on the surface, and as she grew older 

 faded away until she was more shaded than 

 barred. Mated with a blue, she produced four 

 chinchilla kittens ; mated with " Lord South- 

 ampton," there were two well-marked silver 

 tabbies and two chinchillas (this litter included 

 " Dimity " and " Abbess of Broomholme ") ; 

 mated with " Silver Lambkin," there was one 

 chinchilla kitten " Fitz Eustace" and the 

 rest were silver tabbies ; by " Tuan," a much 

 more marked cat, the kittens were all chin- 



THKEE LITTLE AMERICANS. 



chillas (" Tuan," I may mention, was a distant 

 cousin of " Fairy ") ; by " Silver Lustre " 

 there were two chinchillas and two silver 

 tabbies. I then parted with her, and she 

 afterwards had, by " Silver Chieftain," a litter 

 of silver tabbies and chinchillas, including 

 " Silver Tangle " and " Silver Sprite." After 

 that date I have no record of her doings, but 

 it can be seen that she certainly showed an 

 inclination on her own account towards chin- 

 chilla kittens, and this, I take it, was the result 

 of the continued mating together of silver 

 tabby cats. I do not consider any other cross 

 than black is admissible in a silver tabby strain, 

 but the introduction of black blood is neces- 

 sary from time to time if markings are to be 

 retained. I go so far as to say that a cross of 

 green-eyed black in every third generation 

 would be a wise precaution. 



The red tabby, the orange, and the tortoise- 

 shell are rather hopelessly mixed up at present. 

 The self-orange (so called) did not exist a few- 

 years ago, but of late a premium has been put 

 on absence of marking, and a lot of cats with 

 self-coloured or shaded bodies and striped faces 

 appear in the orange classes and win all the 

 prizes. I have no fault to find with the shade 

 of colour of these cats ; they are a beautiful 

 bright clear orange, but if they are to be self- 

 coloured the face markings 

 must go. Crossing with blue 

 gets over this difficulty, but 

 we- immediately lose bright- 

 ness of colour and get dull 

 yellows and fawns. Tortoise- 

 shell is a safe cross, but the 

 ancestry of the tortoiseshell 

 must be carefully inquired 

 into, and one bred from black 

 and tortoiseshell is best, or 

 we can go direct to the black. 

 Tabby cats or any of a blue- 

 or grey colour should be- 

 avoided in this connection. 



Clear, pale yellow creams 

 may be bred from oranges and 

 tortoiseshells ; but these must 

 not be confounded with the 



