A spring of teals, a deceit of lapwings, an unkindness of ravens. How did such inventive terms come about?
Collective nouns have a rich history that dates back to the 15th century. They were particularly used in hunting when distinct name for a group of animals might have been helpful.
Aristocratic hunters had another less practical motive for using these fancy terms. By using elaborate language they could feel more cultured and sophisticated than hunters from ordinary backgrounds. It gave them a sense of belonging to an exclusive clique of noblemen-hunters and helped to reinforce social hierarchies.
This specialised vocabulary was called “terms of venery” and would probably be long forgotten over the centuries if they hadn’t been featured in The Book of Saint Albans, written by Julia Berners in 1486. This ancient book included many of the quirky names we still use today such as a gaggle of geese, a murder of crows and a parliament of owls. The terms reflect the birds’ behaviour and the playful nature of the language used at the time.
The Book of Saint Albans, printed soon after 1486, Unknown illustrator, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Over the centuries we adapted and added to these colourful terms. Some of the collective nouns for birds you’ll see along our coastline include:
A colony of avocets
A pretence, sedge or siege of bitterns
A covert or a raft of coots
A murder of crows
A flight of cormorants
A herd of curlews
A concentration, a crown or a realm of kingfishers
(although you’d be very lucky to need a collective noun for kingfishers)
A deceit of lapwings
(said to be the result of plovers pretending to be injured to lure predators away from their chicks)
