Flock or Flight?

- Flock is applied to a congregation of animals of one kind, especially sheep or
goats herded by people, and to any congregation of wild or domesticated birds,
especially when on the ground.
- Herd is used of a number of animals, especially cattle, herded by people; or
of wild animals such as antelope, elephants, and zebras; or of whales and seals.
Applied to people, it is used disparagingly of a crowd or of the masses and
suggests the gregarious aspect of crowd psychology.
- Drove is used of a herd or flock, as of cattle or geese, that is being moved
or driven from one place to another; less often it refers to a crowd of people
in movement.
- Pack is applicable to any body of animals, especially wolves, or of birds,
especially grouse, and to a body of hounds trained to hunt as a unit. It also
refers disparagingly to a band or group of persons.
- Gang refers to a herd, especially of buffalo or elk; to a pack of wolves or
wild dogs; or to various associations of persons, especially when engaged in
violent or criminal pursuits.
- Brood is applicable to offspring that are still under the care of a mother,
especially the offspring of domestic or game birds or, less formally, of people.

- The following related terms are used as indicated:
- bevy, a company of roe deer, larks, or quail
- cast, the number of hawks or falcons cast off at one time, usually a pair
- cete, a company of badgers
- covert, a flock of coots
- covey, a family of grouse, partridges, or other game birds
- drift, a drove or herd, especially of hogs
- exaltation, a flight of larks
- fall, a family of woodcock in flight
- flight, a flock of birds in flight
- gaggle, a flock of geese
- gam, a school of whales, or a social congregation of whalers, especially at
sea
- kennel, a number of hounds or dogs housed in one place or under the same
ownership
- kindle, a brood or litter, especially of kittens
- litter, the total number of offspring produced at a single birth by a
multiparous mammal
- murder, a flock of crows
- muster, a flock of peacocks
- nide, a brood of pheasants
- pod, a small herd of seals or whales
- pride, a company of lions
- rout, a company of people or animals in movement, especially knights or
wolves;
- school, a congregation of fish, or aquatic mammals such as dolphins or
porpoises
- shrewdness, a company of apes
- skein, a flight of wildfowl, especially geese
- skulk, a congregation of vermin, especially foxes, or of thieves
- sloth, a company of bears
- sord, a flight of mallards
- sounder, a herd of wild boar
- stable, a number of horses housed in one place or under the same ownership;
- swarm, a colony of insects, such as ants, bees, or wasps, especially when
migrating to a new nest or hive
- troop, a number of animals, birds, or people, especially when on the move
- warren, the inhabitants, such as rabbits, of a warren
- watch, a flock of nightingales
- wisp, a flock of birds, especially of snipe.