Have any of you ever seen this T-shirt (and I would assume it’s a poster as well)? It lists more than a few terms for groups of animals. Here’s some that I remember:
-murder of crows
-charm of finches
-parliament of owls
-leap of leopards
I know this is a really General Question, but if any of you know some of the more obscure terms for these groups (i.e., i already know a group of lions is a pride), could you list them here? It’s a bit of a personal project, and I can’t find that shirt anywhere.
Please, Dopers, let this thread die a quick death! I’ve accidentally checked the wrong box, and will now be getting emails for everyone’s response. I’m going to mail the mod to ax this thread, and then I’ll start it over, but for now, just don’t post. Pretty please?
And the problem with small furry animals
in corners is that, just occasionally,
one of them’s a mongoose.
Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad
Okay, birds only. Try a cursory web search and you can find many others.
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 colony of penguins
A company of parrots
A congregation of plovers
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 gaggle of geese [wild or domesticated]
A host of sparrows
A kettle of hawks [riding a thermal]
A murmuration of starlings
A murder of crows
A muster of storks
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 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
Dopeler effect:
The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
Hie thee to a bookstore or library and get a copy of James Lipton’s An Exaltation of Larks that describes the rationale of and history of “terms of venery.”
To eliminate the e-mail: Before you log off, e-mail Nickerz, asking him to lock this thread. It’s a legitimate GQ topic, but you can start it over again after the e-mail encrusted version is locked.