| Some of them are very old. The OED describes the one for crows as "One of many alleged group names found in Late Middle English glossarial sources," with citations back to the C15th. The owls one has been used for other birds since Chaucer (early C15th), though the OED has no cites for it being used for Owls before the 1960s. (And who ever saw more than one owl, tiger or eagle in the same place, unless mating or children were involved?) |
