In the 15th century English hunting manuals first coined the term murder for a group of crows. The name came from an association between the scavenger birds and death. Their dark feathers and habit of gathering on battlefields or gallows made them seen as omens of misfortune in many cultures. Similar poetic phrases called terms of venery were coined for other creatures such as a parliament of owls. While now the scientific term is simply a flock, the phrase murder of crows endures in literature