"geoff" wrote in message ...
Herd of cows but not of sheep:. a coven of witches: a school of fish;
you would not call these contrived would you?

I wasn't talking about 'herd', 'flock', 'coven', 'school', etc, all of
which are in everyday usage.

Collective nouns for various birds contrived? I do not think so. More
likely to be various names used in different parts of the country and
brought together by some lexicographer.

I wasn't even talking about 'bevy' (quails) 'covey' (partridges),
'gaggle' (farmyard geese), 'skein' (wild geese in flight), etc, which
are also in recognised usage. I was talking about 'parliament',
'tiding', 'murder' etc, when used as collective nouns for various
species of birds. These words don't appear in any English dictionary
I have come across.

I have a list of birds' collective nouns, if anybody would like a copy
contact me direct.

I expect your list is the highly fanciful and contrived list that I
have seen elsewhere on the internet.