Magpies mate for life but the female also likes a bit of variety. Research has shown that 1 in 15 magpie chicks is not fathered by the life-partner. When you see lots of magpies together during the breeding season, it's usually one female, her mate and lots of hopeful hangers-on. At other times of the year they enjoy community living and help each other out.
There are many versions of a traditional counting rhyme that features magpies and fortune-telling.
One for sorrow, two for joy,
three for a girl, for for a boy,
five for silver, six for gold,
seven for a secret,never to be told,
eight's a wish, nine's a kiss,
ten for a time of joyous bliss.
All the versions agree that to see one magpie is to anticipate bad luck. To avoid such misfortune, if you happen to see a solitary bird, you can spit three times over your shoulder, or greet the magpie thus: Hello, Mr, Magpie, how's your lady wife today?
In America it seems the rhyme uses crows, which are commoner than magpies.
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