Does not the final 'y' of 'tawny' suppose an apostrophe and apocope?
"The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1 of 2)"
Frederic G. Kenyon
You will understand that it has one, when I tell you that we have here a very curious case of apocope.
"Atlantida"
Pierre Benoit
12. What is apocope?
"The Grammar of English Grammars"
Goold Brown