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Partridges
We'd never seen partridges before- at least not close up, waddling round the front garden. They were the red legged variety- which is non-native and bred in bulk for shooting. I've no idea where they blew in from. "They came because we've been planting pear trees," I said.
Actually partridges prefer not to sit in trees. They're ground nesting birds. And only fly under pressure- like when a covey of hoorays is blasting away at them with shotguns. There are those who say the text of the Christmas carol is corrupt but I think the writer was perfectly aware of the nesting habits of partridges and- as with the rest of the poem- indulging in a little mild surrealism.
Actually partridges prefer not to sit in trees. They're ground nesting birds. And only fly under pressure- like when a covey of hoorays is blasting away at them with shotguns. There are those who say the text of the Christmas carol is corrupt but I think the writer was perfectly aware of the nesting habits of partridges and- as with the rest of the poem- indulging in a little mild surrealism.
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I've wondered for years if there was some piece of forgotten slang behind the partridge in a pear tree, or perhaps just a clueless city-dweller writing the lyrics.
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