 Cecil Sharp, writing in 1916, observed that "from the constancy in English, French, and Languedoc versions of the 'merry little partridge,' I suspect that 'pear-tree' is really "perdrix" (Old French "pertriz") carried into England"; and "juniper tree" in some English versions may have been "joli perdrix," [pretty partridge].Sharp also suggests the adjective "French" in "three French hens", probably simply means "foreign".According to Iona and Peter Opie, the red-legged (or French) partridge perches in trees more frequently than the native common (or grey) partridge and was not successfully introduced into England until about 1770.