There are many different counting rhymes for magpies, but they generally agree that a single magpie is unlucky. Some people believe that one can avert the bad luck by being polite, or even downright flattering, to the magpie in this manner.





One for sorrow, two for joy,

Three for a girl, four for a boy,

Five for silver, six for gold,

Seven for a secret never to be told.




The Scots version given in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable:



One's sorrow, two's mirth,

Three's a wedding, four's a birth,

Five's a christening, six a dearth,

Seven's heaven, eight is hell,

And nine's the devil his ane sel'.