Good Morning General!

Good morning General, how is your lady wife today? This is just one of the salutations used by British people to ward off the bad luck brought by one of these lovely birds! 

This magpie couple live in one of the trees at the edge of my garden, they've been there for a couple of years now and are often heard chatting away! Or rather she is heard chattering (or complaining) because the kiddies are hungry and he's been sitting around on a roof staring into space instead of getting food. 

I love watching them walking around on our lawn, sometimes both but often just one, which of course is supposed to bring bad luck. In the UK people ''salute'' the magpie with various greetings or another tip is to blink twice to convince yourself you've seen two magpies and therefore avoid bad luck. 

Maybe you've heard the old rhyme '' One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold and seven for a secret never to be told!'', one magpie is perhaps associated with sorrow because they mate for life, so a single bird has lost its partner. 

Historically the birds weren’t always seen as harbingers of misfortune; the Romans associated them with intelligence and good fortune, the Greeks with Bacchus the god of wine and Native Americans wore their feathers as a symbol of fearlessness. Today in China a singing Magpie is still thought to bring good fortune and happiness. 

The demise of the magpie really came about with the church in medieval times, their ''pied'' feathers white/black symbolise good and evil, they were the only birds that didn’t weep with Jesus on the cross or wear mourning at his death. Chatty as they are, priests created the myth that they were the only creature who didn’t board Noah's Ark, too busy sitting outside chattering! Long connected with witchcraft, it was said they carried a drop of the Devil’s blood in their tongue, if the tongue was cut open releasing the Devil's blood it would give them the ability of human speech!

The association with death probably comes from the fact that they are carrion eaters and were so seen around gallows and on battlefields. Where I come from in Scotland, a magpie seen near a house or window is a sign of impending death and general fear of the bird resulted in near extinction in the Victorian era. 

I must admit I am superstitious but as I know Mr and Mrs Magpie very well, when I see one alone in the garden I know that they will be flying home to their partner, but it still doesn’t hurt to ''salute'' them and in a military household what better way than with ''Good morning General!'' 

And of course they love ''glitter'', just like me!