http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
Why are geese in a gaggle? Are lions actually proud? And do crows deserve their murderous moniker? Collective nouns are one of the most bizarre and baffling aspects of the English language, and this absorbing book tells the stories of these evocative phrases, exploring and explaining the etymology behind them. Each collective noun summons up the animal or event it describes. But where did they come from? 'A parliament of owls,' for example, seems to have its origins in the 1950s children's classic The Chronicles of Narnia in which C.S. Lewis references a phrase from Chaucer, 'the parliament of fowls.' Lewis' version changed 'fowls' to 'owls' and due to the international success of his books it caught on and is now recognized as dictionary compilers as the 'correct' term for a group of owls.
Introduction -- Chapter 1: People -- Chapter 2: Professions -- Chapter 3: Religious callings -- Chapter 4: Domestic animals and birds -- Chapter 5: Wild animals, insects and fish -- Chapter 6: Wild birds -- Chapter 7: Exotic creatures -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Index.
"First published in Great Britain under the title An unkindness of ravens in 2014 by Michael O'Mara Books Limited"--Title page verso.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 180-182) and index.