58 GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS 
too, who live not far from Foxes Corners, who very well 
knew right from wrong. 
“When children have this evil mind, the laws of the state 
must be used to cleanse, — just as the law may enter the 
house and do away with contagious disease. Cruelty is 
often as infectious as sickness; and it is, in fact, a sickness 
of the mind. It is quite as necessary sometimes that the 
heart should go to school and be taught kindness as that 
we should learn to read. 
HOW WE CAN PROTECT BIRDS 
‘We can help birds simply by not hurting them and leav- 
ing them as free as possible to live out their joyous lives; 
but we can do much more if we will leave some little bushy 
nooks about the farm or garden, where they may nest in 
private, place food in convenient places during the long, 
cold winter months for those birds that remain with us, 
and make it a rule never to raise more kittens than we need 
to keep barn and house free of rats or than we can feed and 
care for. 
‘Silly people, who shirk responsibility, often say, ‘Oh, 
I couldn’t think of drowning a kitten,’ and yet they will 
let dozens of them grow up unfed and uncared for, or 
leave a litter by the roadside, until in many places a breed 
of gaunt, half-wild cats roam about destroying the eggs 
and young of song-birds, game-birds, and domestic fowls 
alike. 
“‘A nice, comfortable house or barn eat is one thing, but 
the savage outcast is quite another, and should no more 
be let live than a weasel or a skunk. 
