You may know James Lipton as the great interviewer on “Inside the Actor’s Studio.” But Lipton is also an author with a passion for language, specifically Old World phrases that describ sets of things — a rope of pearls, a school of fish or a cluster of grapes.

These terms are hundreds of years old. They were invented as a game by hunters to describe groups of animals they encountered. Lipton details more than 1,000 terms — including a lot more than just about wildlife — in recent editions of his classics “An Exxaltation of Larks.” We have the 1984 edition in our library at Severson Dells Nature Center. Here are a few related to wildlife.

  • A leap of leopards.
  • A rafter of turkeys.
  • A sloth of bears.
  • A party of jays.
  • A siege of herons.
  • A labor of moles.
  • A charm of finches.
  • A skein of geese.
  • A cast of hawks.
  • A deceit of lapwings.
  • A bouquet of pheasants.
  • An unkindness of ravens.
  • A knot of toads.
  • A host of sparrows.
  • A descent of woodpeckers.
  • A dray of squirrels.
  • A watch of nightingales.
  • A route of wolves.
  • A parliament of owls.
  • A smack of jellyfish.
  • A murmuration of starlings.
  • A spring of teal

Related post: Fun With Animal Words