A Murmuration of Starlings: The Collective Nouns of Animals and Birds

With 50 new paintings and entries for the collective nouns of animals, birds and insects, artist and author Steve Palin presents a fresh take on his best—selling A Murmuration of Starlings.

Some are beautifully illustrated classics: a pride of lions, even a raft of otters perhaps – but what about a business of ferrets or a descent of woodpeckers?

Many collective nouns have their roots in medieval times, in particular applied to those creatures hunted by man, and subject to the etiquette of ...