I'd like to report a murder

I've always thought this was an odd turn of phrase. I'm sure nobody really "likes" to report a murder, or any crime, come to think if it. But anyway, I'm already getting off the subject and I haven't even begun yet.

What I'd like to talk about is venery. You may not have heard the word* but I'm sure you've heard its use. I am referring to collective nouns. For example, a "flock" of birds or a "pride" of lions. These are fairly common so we don't really think about them very much but I was searching online for confirmation of a term I'd heard many years ago, a "murder" of crows.




I was pleased to find it was correct. However, I came across a number of other terms I'd never heard before, some of which had me laughing at the mental image that accompanied them. For your pleasure, I'd like to share a number of them here. Enjoy.

A parcel of birds
A blush of boys
A rabble of butterflies
A drunkenship of cobblers
A hastiness of cooks
A kettle of hawks
A siege of herons
An observance of hermits
A smack of jellyfish
A cartload of monkeys
A scourge of mosquitoes
A superfluity of nuns
A parliament of owls
A bouquet of pheasants
A poverty of pipers
An unkindness of ravens
A rout of snails
A clutter of spiders
An ambush of tigers
A gang of turkeys


*Bird is the word.