A flock of birds, even a skein of geese perhaps - but a clete of badgers or a grist of bees? The collective nouns of animals and birds have long inspired and intirgued us. Many have their roots in medieval times, in particular applied to those creatures hunted by man, and subject to the etiquette of their proper group names. Steve Palin has beautifully illustrated and given the background to about 50 different animals and birds with interesting collective nouns - and listed 420 of them in his glossary.