Why is a Group of Crows Called a Murder
The horrific killing of crows is one of many strange and amazing collective nouns for birds, but none is quite as evil. Even ravens, which some people would argue are much more deserving of a deadly reputation, get away with a rather small act of cruelty.
It is necessary to look back to the Middle Ages and the time of Medieval hunting to comprehend the origins of the various group nouns for birds and other animals. Hunting for the elite back then was more than just a pastime or a way to get sustenance.
All components of the hunt, including the prey animals, their body parts, the phases of the chase, and the hounds’ behavior, had different names because it was significant indicator of privilege and nobility.
“Terms of venery” refers to the specialized terminology used in courtly hunting; venery is an ancient term for hunting derived from the Latin verb vnor, which means “I hunt.” It was crucial to understanding this jargon in order to separate the upper-class gentlemen from the yeomen and the bad guys.
“Terms Of Venery”
The specific class of collective nouns known as terms of venery is used to refer to groups of animals. The Medieval Latin word venaria, which means “beasts of the hunt, game,” brought the word venery into English at the beginning of the 14th century. Even though it is outdated by today’s standards, venery still refers to “the activity of hunting.”
If you’re curious, the word’s modern meaning, which is “indulgence of sexual pleasures,” came into English through the Medieval Latin word veneria, which means “sexual intercourse,” in the middle of the 15th century. These two probably developed homonyms through wordplay. a comparison between hunting for a mate and hunting for sport. Smart, no?
Terms of venery sound like the word filigree because of their antiquity. They were not created by scientists as a means of cataloging species, but rather by witty English gentlemen in the 15th century. These Englishmen would name animal groups based on their lyrical interpretation of nature while they went hunting. Some of these expressions, like “a charm of hummingbirds,” were witty; others, like “a paddling of ducks,” were obvious; still others, like “an ostentation of peacocks,” were merely arrogant.
Neither was the fad just for birds. Alligator swarms, caterpillar armies, bat roosts, and bear sloths were all gifts of veneration.
These kennings gradually made their way into books, where the literate class adopted them, like in the 15th-century treatise The Boke of Saint Albans on hawking, hunting, and heraldry. They changed from slang used for fun (think of the old slang) to technical terminology used by sticklers to show off as they gained authority through time.
What Is The Group Of Crows Called?
The names given to groups, collections of people, or other collections of things are collective nouns. As with a herd of sheep or a ship’s crew, we frequently use these words in a general sense, but when referring to birds, specialized terms are frequently employed to define the group.
What do you name a bunch of crows as they are gregarious birds with close-knit family systems and roost in large numbers (typically in the thousands)? Although most people refer to a group of birds as a flock, crows in particular have been called many different things over the years. A crow flock may also be referred to as a horde, mob, muster, parcel, or the most well-known of these, a murder.
There is no set number of birds required to call a group a flock, and it frequently depends on the social behavior of the individuals within it. We are aware that two or three birds do not make up a flock. Just a few crows together would not generally be considered murder since they are likely to cluster in these bigger groups due to their natural tendency to do so. A murder of crows is the poetic expression used to describe a gathering huge group or flock of a single species.
But Why A Murder?
Terms of venery were frequently based on traits that people thought the animals had, rather than on their true nature. A “piteousness of doves,” for instance, alludes to the fact that the bird has a special place in Christianity. For instance, God appeared as a dove to celebrate Jesus’ baptism, and a dove returned to Noah with an olive leaf to signal the receding floodwaters. It’s unrelated to the pious peck of a dove.
The crow also gained its term of veneration based on mythology and religion. Sadly, crows lacked a public relations strategy as successful as, well, God.
Crows are omnivorous scavengers who will consume almost everything, including tiny animals, insects, seeds, fruits, and eggs. In the past, they frequently showed up on battlegrounds, in cemeteries, and in the aftermath of tragedies to munch on the delectable carrion that humans had left lying around. The carrion crow is a bird that is native to Europe.
Due to their link with death, crows were thought to herald bad luck. Probably to little avail were the all-black feathers. Superstitions and folklore fed the belief even further. One folktale describes how crows convene a parliament to deliberate on a flock member’s fate. In the event that the decision is negative, the parliament will attack the lone crow. There is also the Irish mythical character Morrigan (or Morrigu), a crow-like entity connected with war, death, and disaster.
It is simple to understand why someone would believe that a “murder of crows” would be suitable.
But science is demonstrating that we have greatly underestimated this species and that its reputation is not merited. Crows are very intelligent and sociable animals. They have the ability to play games, use tools, and pick up new abilities.
In one experiment, water was placed in a tall, narrow tube, and crows and kids were urged to take treats out of it. The crows quickly realized that by putting items in the tube, the water level would rise and they would be able to reach the threat. Compared to their corvid rivals, children under the age of 8 did poorly.
Additionally, crows have been known to send gifts to people who take care of them. Eight-year-old Seattleite Gabi Mann feeds neighborhood crows in her garden, and the birds return the favor by bringing her bright trinkets like earrings, marbles, and LEGO blocks. No dove that I am aware of — no matter how religious — is as considerate as that.
A Babble Of Words
At the same time that the English language was experiencing rapid growth, literate classes outside of the nobility began to adopt the practice of collectively naming hunting animals. The practice spread throughout the following century and gave rise to hundreds of new words for veneration, such as “knot of toads,” “drove of donkeys,” and “shrewdness of apes.”
These new descriptions required a great deal of wit and creativity, and several semantic strategies were employed, including onomatopoeias (a gaggle of geese), traits (a spring of teal), and appearance (a parliament of owls). Sometimes faulty transcriptions resulted in distorted forms, such as a school of fish or a siege of herons (herons are located in marshes among the sedges and reeds, like bitterns) (from shoal).
Many of the expressions still in use today, such as charm of goldfinches, pride of lions, and a murder of crows, are listed in two books from the middle of the fourteenth century: The Egerton Manuscript and The Book of St. Albans. Interestingly, despite the fact that goldfinches are endearing creatures, the word “charm” in this context comes from the Old French word for “song.”
A wunch of bankers and a book of Mormons are two examples of contemporary collective nouns that demonstrate how much fun it is to create new ones.
A Capital Offense
So, again, why a crow murder? The most plausible explanation is that the crow’s behavior and perceived qualities led to the development of its collective noun.
Crows are scavengers and will take tiny animals including lambs, eggs, and newborn birds as well as carrion. Crows and other corvids have historically been observed near battles, medieval hospitals, cemeteries, or the gallows while they wait for an opportunity to rummage among the corpses. Crows and other corvids became the subject of superstitions and folklore as a result of their link with death.
One such story claims that crows create tribunals or parliaments to determine and punish a flock member’s bad behavior. If the defendant loses, the other birds in the flock kill that particular bird. Given that crows occasionally murder a weak or dying crow that has invaded their territory, there is definitely some truth to this tale. However, there is no proof that crows regularly execute members of their own species.
Crows can also be referred as a swarm, a hover, a mob, a parcel, a parliament, or a storyteller.
Owls have long been regarded as wise creatures. This belief dates back to Ancient Greece when the goddess of wisdom Athena was frequently depicted with an owl. The term “parliament” is also used to refer to a group of owls. There are a few explanations as to why owls are regarded as smart, but it is most likely because of their wide-eyed, rather a contemplative stare and their capacity for night vision.
Because of the above-mentioned folktale, crows most likely received the collective word parliament. Given that we now know that crows are relatively intelligent birds, it’s possible that a medieval linguist was also aware of this characteristic.
Something To Finish With
What about crow storytelling? Crows like to congregate in big flocks and are recognized for their loud ‘caw,’ yet this fact is rather unknown. Perhaps someone saw this and concluded that they weren’t really plotting a murder, but rather were just telling each other stories.
We’d want to know the origin of crow storytelling, so if you know anything about it, please share it in the comments section below.
