The discussion of calico cats' gender reminds me that when I first moved into my house and got a kitten (Minnie Meowse, described above), there was a real "bully" cat who used to hang around my yard and porch and pick fights with Minnie. This was a pretty large, plump-ish (not fat) calico cat with very distinct orange and black patches on white. The cat would not let me anywhere near her/him and always kept its tail down firmly between its back legs, so that I could not tell its gender.* The behavior of the cat -- roaming the neighborhood picking fights -- suggested tomcat, but it would have been a very rare calico tom if that's what it was.

Eventually I did succeed in luring getting the cat to eat on the porch (trying to catch it and find its owner), but it never would raise its tail.

*Bitsy McCloud-- my classic silver tabby, and just about the mellowest, sweetest, people-friendly and reasonably cat-friendly kitties you'd ever want to meet--nearly always walked around with her tail straight up in the air ("letting it all hang out," as they used to say in the '60s). It seemed to me that a cat always covering its ass (literally) might be the feline equivalent of a person wearing a mask or veil. It seemed to convey a sneaky attitude (especially since this calico cat was a bully to other cats.)