<Dd> 11 Pipers Piping </Dd> <Dd> 12 Drummers Drumming </Dd> <P> The earliest known version of the lyrics was published in London under the title "The Twelve Days of Christmas sung at King Pepin's Ball", as part of a 1780 children's book, Mirth without Mischief . Subsequent versions have shown considerable variation: </P> <Ul> <Li> In the earliest versions, the word on is not present at the beginning of each verse--for example, the first verse begins simply "The first day of Christmas". On was added in Austin's 1909 version, and became very popular thereafter . </Li> <Li> In the early versions "my true love sent" me the gifts . However, a 20th - century variant has "my true love gave to me"; this wording has become particularly common in North America . </Li> <Li> In one nineteenth century variant, the gifts come from "my mother" rather than "my true love". </Li> <Li> Some variants have "juniper tree" or "June apple tree" rather than "pear tree", presumably a mishearing of "partridge in a pear tree . </Li> <Li> The 1780 version has "four colly birds"--colly being a regional English expression for "black" (the name of the collie dog breed may come from this word). This wording must have been opaque to many even in the 19th century: "canary birds", "colour'd birds", "curley birds", and "corley birds" are found in its place . Frederic Austin's 1909 version, which introduced the now - standard melody, also altered the fourth day's gift to four "calling" birds, and this variant has become the most popular, although "colly" is still found . </Li> <Li> The "five gold rings" may become "five golden rings", especially in North America . In the standard melody, this change enables singers to fit one syllable per musical note . </Li> <Li> The gifts associated with the final four days are often reordered . For example, the pipers may be on the ninth day rather than the eleventh . </Li> </Ul>

What are calling birds in the 12 days of christmas