Often collected in the 20th c., "Pourquoi" in Cox, "Crow's Song" in Randolph, "Birds Courting" in Brown, "Leatherwing" in Lomax, etc. (see Traditional Ballad Index). Supposedly tracable to old broadsides such as "Woody Querristers" (17th c.) but some of this could be coincidental.

There should be information in Mudcat, but Lyrics and Knowledge Search is down at present. I hate to post duplication.