“As the crow flies…” is a common saying, which means “to travel in a straight line” instead of taking all the bends and detours of a road.
This is used when giving directions to strangers/lost motorists. The phrase offers hope of a short journey, but does not always take account of the reality of the roads. One incidence I remember in the south-west of England involved an unsafe river bridge falling down. The diversion required a journey of at least 20 miles, very frustrating when you could see the destination less than a mile away “as the crow flies.” If only cars had wings.
Apparently Charles Dickins used the phrase in “Oliver Twist” – (I haven’t checked).
One suggested origin of the phrase dates back to the navigation of sailing ships: cages of birds were kept on board, and one would be released from the “Crow’s Nest” lookout post to aid navigation. The hope was that the bird would fly directly towards land. Then the ship would be steered in that same direction- sounds a bit chancy, doesn’t it?
Of course, some of you may be thinking about Noah releasing a raven and a dove in search of land. It worked for him- perhaps the idea has merit.
Crows are quite intelligent- they can be trained to do simple tasks (fetching small objects, learning to obey commands like “come” or “no.” They can recognise patterns. Some birds even learn to speak a few recognisable words. Crows are innately curious, and willing to try new actions. Amazing!
Our local Bognor crows have trained some of our residents- the crows hang around the park, scrounging food from the willing humans!
Crows, ravens and rooks all belong to the same “family” of Corvids. The differences are to do with size, colour of beak, and the colour of legs. Mostly people see them as “big black birds” and don’t worry about fine distinctions. Well, look again at the photo. Browns, greys, black- and a perky eye.
Worth more than a casual glance, isn’t it.
Just an “ordinary” bird- but brave enough to harry hawks and even eagles. The crows “mob” the predator to keep themselves and their young safe- and in the process, protect many other smaller birds and mammals.
Matthew 6 v26: “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?“
Consider this: if God has gone to all the creative effort of making crows clever and attractive, won’t He be even more invested in the wellbeing of human life? Jesus said that “not even a sparrow falls” without being noticed. Doesn’t that give us hope? “Are you not of more value than they?“
Yep. We can even learn from a crow.
The Reflectionary 