Bevy, n.; pl. Bevies.
Etymology: [Perhaps orig. a drinking company, fr. OF. bevée (cf. It. beva) a drink, beverage; then, perh., a company in general, esp. of ladies; and last applied by sportsmen to larks, quails, etc. See Beverage.]
1. A company; an assembly or collection of persons, especially of ladies. What a bevy of beaten slaves have we here ! Beau. & Fl.
2. A flock of birds, especially quails or larks; also, a herd of roes.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for bevy; he lists it under flock.
Where he writes about it:
Bevy is used of birds, and figuratively of any bright and lively group of women or children, but rarely of men. — from flock
Flock is applied to birds and to some of the smaller animals; herd is confined to the larger animals; we speak of a bevy of quail, a covey of partridges, a flock of blackbirds, or a flock of sheep, a herd of cattle, horses, buffaloes, or elephants, a pack of wolves, a pack of hounds, a swarm of bees. — from flock