32 THE COMPLETE SPORTSMAN 



he ought, of course, to have spoken of " a covey 

 of grouse," " a leash of hares," " a brace of 

 partridges." And everyone who makes any 

 pretence of having acquired some slight know- 

 ledge of sport should hasten to acquaint himself 

 with the more elementary technical terms — " a 

 wisp of snipe," " a covert of coots," " a couple 

 of rabbits," etc. — by which it has long been 

 customary to express game in terms of zoological 

 plurality. 



Under the heading " Beasts in Companies " 

 an admirable list of such phrases is given in 

 Strutt's well-known " Sports and Pastimes," 

 from which we may be permitted to extract such 

 familiar designations as: "A sege of herons, a 

 dopping of sheldrakes, a spring of teal, a gaggle 

 of geese, a muster of peacocks, a bevy of quails, 

 a dule of turtles, a fall of woodcock, a murmura- 

 tion of starlings, a charm of goldfinches, a sculk 

 of foxes, a cete of badgers, a clowder of cats," 

 and last (but by no means least) " a shrewdness 

 of apes." 



To this list we may perhaps be allowed to 

 add some of the more modern terms in use 

 among philologists to-day, as for instance: 

 " a susurration of sparrows, a mumble of 

 moles, a can of coons, a pop of weasels, a 

 chowder of clams, a devoutness of plovers, a 

 parcel of port, a ' But life is short, and 



