Four Calling Birds

There is a bit of dispute as to the true lyrics of the fourth section of the song, The 12 Days of Christmas. Way back in the 1700’s (yes, this song is that old!) the line was originally “colly birds”, which is a type of European blackbird, as “colly” means “black” or “to blacken”. Then, in the early 1900’s, the lyric was changed to “calling birds”. Why, you ask? I dunno! Either way, here’s four crows a-squawkin’!