Hello all Tweeters, I know, long time no write, but a subject near and
dear to my heart has been touched upon - Yes!! Lexicography.
I happen to be in proud possession of a readily-available trade paperback
entitled "An Exaltation of Larks" by James Lipton. There is no way I can
regale you with all of it's wonderful text on the origins of this type of
naming of groups (called Venery) So READ it!! it's great. Seems to be
the murky ancestorship of this stuff was the gentleman hunter and his
search for elegant and even romantic ways to describe the objects of the
hunt. back to the early 1300's. Quite a provenance.

Anyhow, "A Murder of Crows" appears in the oldest of the venery texts,
Egerton, as "a Mursher of Crowys". By 1476 it had become the more easily
recognizable Murther of Crowes in a book entitled "The Hors, Shepe & the
Ghoos" love that archaic spelling.

Here's more from the book (on birds, specifically) if you are interested:

An unkindness of ravens
a fall of woodcock
a dule of doves
a true love of turtledoves
a chattering of choughs
a murmuration of starlings
a spring of teal
an ostentation of peacocks
a hill of ruffs
a sorde of mallards
a paddling (or team) of ducks
a cover of coots
a host of sparrows
a descent of woodpeckers
a cast of hawks
a leash of merlins
a flight of goshawks
a convocation of eagles
a tidings of magpies
a building of rooks
a watch of nightingales
a congregation of plovers
a nye of pheasants
a charm of finches (my sentimental favorite)
a party of jays
a seige of herons

And there's more. If there is one not on this list, let me know, I'll
look it up. Also, for some of these, there is a description of its' origin.

Wordily and birdily yours
Carla Holley

On Wed, 24 Aug 1994, Smith wrote:

> What an interesting image: a murder of crows flying north...
>
> I'm no lexicographer, but I do enjoy learning about word definitions that
> are new to me. This one is driving me crazy, though, because there's no
> such reference in the online versions of Webster's and the OED, nor in my
> Random House dictionary at home. Is "murder" of crows a specialized term
> then? Avian jargon?
>
>
> ***************************************************
> /|/| * The First World War, caused by the assignation *
> | | | * of the Arch-Duck by a surf, ushered in a new *
> | | | * error in the anals of human history. *
> \|\| * *
> >{}{}{}{}<++>8 * from The World According to Student *
> /|/| * Bloopers, by Richard Lederer *
> | | | ***************************************************
> | | | illustrator of dragonfly: wish I knew
> \|\| Lisa M. Smith <subplot at u.washington.edu>
>
>
> On Mon, 22 Aug 1994, NESTLER, JAMES R. wrote:
>
> > This murder (isn't that the proper name for a herd of crows?) is probably
> > a bit north of the ones currently being discussed. We have about 250
> > crows which fly due north over the Deception Pass area every evening.
> > We've tried to follow them by car and boat, but lose them about 2 miles
> > south of Anacortes.
> >
> > Jim Nestler
> > Walla Walla College Marine Station
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>