Merriam-Webster writes that most terms of venery fell out of use in the 16th century, including a "murder" for crows. It goes on to say that some of the terms in
The Book of Saint Albans were "rather fanciful", explaining that the book extended collective nouns to people of specific professions, such as a "poverty" of pipers. It concludes that for
lexicographers, many of these do not satisfy criteria for entry by being "used consistently in running prose" without meriting explanation. Some terms that were listed as commonly used were "herd", "flock", "school", and "swarm". Writing for
Audubon, Nicholas Lund says that many such terms are not used in actuality. When he interviewed scientists who specialize in studying specific animals, they had not heard of these terms, such as a "bask" of crocodiles or "wisdom" of wombats, being applied in their fields. Lund noted that the common plural nouns for animals were "flock" for birds and "herd" for cows, conceding that for certain animals in small groups, there was currency in usage such as a "pod" of whales or "gaggle" of geese. ==See also==