On the Twelfth Day of Christmas... Quiz

First, an explanation of the solution:

Bird 3's statement that the numbers that are a multiple of 3 belong to Alan, Party and Sandy mean that they have to be Birds 6, 9 and 12. We also know from Bird 7 that it has the same number of letters in its name as Bird 6 and that both of them have fewer letters in their name than Bird 12. Birds 6 and 12 can only have 4 or 5 letters in their name so therefore Bird 6 has to be Alan. The only other 4-letter name option is John, so that name has to belong to Bird 7.

Bird 5 then tells us that Party's branch has one more pear attached to it than Alan's. Since Alan (Bird 6) is sitting on a branch with one pear attached, Party must be Bird 9, the only bird whose branch has two pears, leaving Sandy as Bird 12.

Bird 2 told us that they are in the same tree as a bird whose name begins with the letter 'P'. We now know that isn't Party, so the bird in question must be Perdita and be either Bird 1 or Bird 8 (as we already know that Bird 7 is John). However, Bird 1 stated that their name begins with a letter in the first half of the alphabet, so Perdita has to be Bird 8.

Bird 10 informed us that they shared an initial with another bird. The only names that begin with the same letter as another are John, Joy, Perdita and Party. Of those, Joy is the only name still available to be Bird 10. Bird 4's statement tells us that Keith has a double-digit number. The only bird with a double-digit number whose name is still unknown is Bird 11, so they must be Keith.

That just leaves Birds 1 to 5 to identify. Bird 6's remark that William is sitting on a pear-less branch immediately identifies William as Bird 5 as Birds 1 to 4 are all sitting on a branch with a pear hanging from it.

Bird 11 stated that Bird 3 has a longer name than Bird 4. The remaining names (Barbara, Cyril, Frances and Rocky) are either 5 or 7 letters long, so Bird 3 has to be either Barbara or Frances. Since Bird 8 mentioned that Frances is also an occupant of the left-most tree on the diagram, Bird 3 therefore has to be Barbara.

Bird 9 points out that Cyril has an even number, so Bird 1 can't be Cyril. We also know from earlier that it can't be Rocky (due to having a name in the first half of the alphabet) so Bird 1 must be Frances. Finally, Bird 12 gives us the information that Bird 4's name comes alphabetically before Bird 2's, so Bird 4 is Cyril and Bird 2 is Rocky. Problem solved!

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Frances Partridge (1900-2004) was, along with her husband Ralph, an author associated with the Bloomsbury Group of influential writers, artists and intellectuals of London society in the first part of the 20th century. The group, which included famous names such as Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster, was named after the Bloomsbury area of London where many of its members lived. Frances Partridge was mainly known for publishing her diaries and providing an insight into the lives and relationships of these literary icons.

There are over 40 extant species of partridge. These ground-dwelling birds are native to areas across Europe, Asia and Africa, but have also been introduced to the Americas (although mostly to North and Central America) as well as Australia and New Zealand. One of these species is the rock partridge, Alectoris graeca, that can be identified by its grey breast, light-brown back and lower body and black-and-white head.

The Barbary partridge, Alectoris barbara, is - as its name suggests - native to northern Africa and the Barbary coast. It has a predominantly grey plumage, but with reddish-brown and white stripes on its lower body beneath the wings. These partridges can also be found in Gibraltar where they have been declared the national bird and depicted on coinage.

Cyril is the real first name of the character Alan Partridge from the former British TV soap opera 'Brookside'. The soap, which began in 1982, was set in a cul-de-sac in a new-build housing estate in Liverpool and Partridge became the first resident of number 6 Brookside Close - the only bungalow - in 1983.

The character was played by Dicken Ashworth and only stayed in the show until 1984 when he married his on-off girlfriend Samantha and moved to Kuwait.

William Ordway Partridge (1861-1930) was an American sculptor responsible for a number of notable statues and pieces of public art on display across the United States. These include an equestrian statue of former president and US army general Ulysses S. Grant erected in Brooklyn, New York in 1896; a bronze statue of Pocahontas at Jamestown, Virginia (completed in 1913); and the 1894 monument to William Shakespeare in Chicago's Lincoln Park. Partridge was also an author of both poetry and technical guides to sculpture.

Alan Partridge is an obnoxious fictional radio and TV presenter, co-created and portrayed by British comedian Steve Coogan. Partridge first appeared on the BBC radio programme 'On the Hour' in 1994, before switching to the television version 'The Day Today' and then becoming the main character of the sitcom 'Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge'. Since then, Coogan has appeared as Alan Partridge in various TV series, comedy sketches and even a feature length movie, 'Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa' (2013).

John Partridge (1789-1872) was a British portrait artist known for his works depicting many of the most famous political and society figures of the 19th century, including the prime ministers Lord Melbourne, Lord Aberdeen and Lord Palmerston. Partridge had royal patronage from Queen Victoria, having painted several portraits of both her and her husband Prince Albert, and was granted the title of 'Portrait Painter-Extraordinary' to the queen.

The grey partridge's scientific name Perdix perdix is a tautonym - one where the same name is used for both its genus and species. While its feathers are mostly grey, it does have other distinguishing features such as its red face and a large patch of dark brown or black feathers on its belly.

It is also one of the two main species of partridge found in England (along with the red-legged partridge) and therefore likely to be the type of partridge gifted in 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' song.

A 2016 public competition to name a new polar research vessel for the UK's Natural Environment Research Council sparked an ongoing naming craze thanks to the runaway success of joke suggestion "Boaty McBoatface". Therefore, I'm afraid it was inevitable that the one of the twelve partridges in this quiz had to be named Party - or to give them their full moniker, Party McPartridgeface.

Joy Partridge (1899-1947) was an English cricketer who played in the first women's international test cricket series in 1934-35. The series consisted of three tests between England and Australia (which included 2 wins for England and one draw) and one between England and New Zealand (also won by England). Partridge was both a batter and bowler, but it is her bowling contributions of 6 for 96 in the second test against Australia and 4 for 60 in the test against New Zealand that stand out in the records.

Keith Partridge was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the fictional family band from the US TV series 'The Partridge Family'. Keith, the eldest son, was portrayed by David Cassidy and set up the band with his four younger siblings, Laurie, Danny, Chris and Tracy and their mother, Shirley.

The series ran from 1970 to 1974 and told the story of the band's time on tour as well as their more mundane family life back at home in suburbia.

The sand partridge, Ammoperdix heyi, has a mainly light sandy-brown plumage, although the male has some more distinctive stripy black-and-white feathers on its lower body and a white patch on each side of their face. These birds are native to rocky desert areas of the Middle East, so are sandy in both name, appearance and location!