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Nouns of Congregation |
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A bevy of quail
A bouquet of pheasants (when flushed) A brood of hens A building of rooks A cast of hawks (or falcons) A charm of finches A cloud of sea fowl A chattering of choughs A colony of penguins or gulls A company of parrots or woodcock A congregation of plovers A convocation of eagles A cover of coots A covey of partridges (or grouse or ptarmigans) A deceit of lapwings A descent of woodpeckers A dissimulation of birds A dole of doves An exaltation of larks A fall of woodcocks A flight of swallows (or doves, goshawks, or cormorants) A flush of mallard A gaggle of geese (wild or domesticated) A head of curlews A herd of wrens A host of sparrows |
A hover of crows
A kettle of hawks (riding a thermal) A murmuration of starlings A murder of crows A muster of storks or peacocks A nye of pheasants (on the ground) An ostentation of peacocks A paddling of ducks (on the water) A parliament of owls A party of jays A peep of chickens A pitying of turtledoves A raft of ducks A rafter of turkeys A sedge of bitterns A siege of herons A skein of geese (in flight) A sord of mallards A spring of teal A tidings of magpies A trip of dotterel An unkindness of ravens A watch of nightingales A wedge of swans (or geese, flying in a 'V') A wisp of snipe |
Most of these terms are listed in James Lipton's An Exaltation of Larks. Lipton's list is substantially based on very old sources. There were manuscript lists of group names in the 15th century, and these lists appeared in some of the first books printed in England. Many of them make their first appearance in John Lydgate's Debate between the Horse, Goose, and Sheep (1440); and Lydgate's terms along with others appear in The Book of Hawking and Hunting (also known as The Book of St. Albans) by Dame Juliana Barnes (1486). Whether Lydgate and Barnes coined any of these terms, or whether they were setting down the terms that were considered proper in their day is not known. Many of the terms did catch on, and the lists they appeared on were frequently reprinted.
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