122 GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS 
there is no cause for fear, but should a man with a gun, 
a large Owl, or other suspicious object appear, either the 
Crow on the watch, for there is always one of these who 
guards the destiny of the flock, gives a signal by a sharp 
quavering Ca-ca-w or, if this seems too rash, the leader 
will simply take to wing and slip away silently, and, no 
matter how quietly the leader slips away, the rest of the 
flock know it and rise at once. How do they know 
this? 
“Maybe they smell, just as our rabbit hounds do when 
they start out after things that no one else sees or knows 
about,” said Tommy Todd. 
“No, birds are not guided by scent as animals are,” 
said Gray Lady; “scent is held to the ground by moisture; 
it would be difficult to follow when it is blown about by 
air. Birds are led by their sight, which is many times 
keener than that of man or the lower animals. Then, too, 
they have another sense more fully developed than other 
animals, and that is what is called the ‘sense of direction.’ 
Knowing the spot to which they would go, they are able 
to reach it in the quickest, most direct manner, so that 
‘as the Crow flies’ has come to mean the most direct 
way of reaching a place. 
‘“When morning comes they leave the roost, and, break- 
ing up into parties, begin the search for food again. As 
the supply near home gives out, they go farther and far- 
ther afield, sometimes going down to the shore, where they 
pick up clams, mussels, and any scraps of sea-food that 
they can find. 
“After the corn has been taken in, they find scattered 
kernels of that and other grain left in the field, but at the 
