Lewis remarked to me that the Chinese use the same word "group" for everything: people, animals, birds, et cetera. Which makes sense. But, English-speaking people have the extra joy/challenge of needing to use different words for different species. No, we don't just say a group of birds. We say:
Flock of birds
Congregation of alligators
Colony of ants
Herd of cows
Culture of bacteria
Litter of kittens
Swarm of bees
Brood of chickens
Quiver of cobras
Pride of lions
Bed of clams
Pack of wolves
Gaggle of geese
Cackle of hyenas
Plague of locusts
Farrow of piglets
School of fish
Not to mention the unique pronunciations:
Though
Thought
Tough
Through
Thorough
And the singsong Rule "I before E, except after C" (except for the word "weird").
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