Finally, a related superstition seems to confirm the fear of seeing one lone magpie. One should be friendly to the bird, greeting it thus: “Hello, Mr Magpie.” This should immediately be followed by a reference to his wife/partner, because two magpies are better than one: “How and where is your fine wife?”

Two ravens, Hugin and Munin, feature in Norse mythology. They sat on Odin’s shoulders, giving him the world’s news. An ancient Celtic religion associates the goddess Morrigon and Welsh God Bran the Blessed with the raven. Bran’s head was buried in London’s White Hill to guard the country against invasion. His name translates to raven, and over time a famous legend evolved, claiming that England will not fall to a foreign invader as long as there are ravens at the Tower of London. Another Welsh belief bestows good fortune on any members of a household that has a raven sitting on its chimney. It’s considered bad luck to kill a raven, because the spirit of King Arthur supposedly visits the world in the guise of a raven. If a raven is seen near a sick person it’s a sure sign that the patient will not recover.

Native American folklore puts the crow in the same category as the coyote. This can be traced back to the days when survival was hard, and the crow was a crop pest. Where ravens are symbolic of the negative aspect of death the crow is associated with the spiritual side of death – the transition of the spirit. The neopagan cults considered the crow to be very psychic, a tribute to the bird’s intelligence.

Another bird often associated with death and misfortune, the rook is supposed to escort all virtuous souls to Heaven. They are apparently good weather forecasters and can sense Death’s approach. The nesting area of these birds is called a rookery, and if you have one near your house take great care of it. If the rooks decide to look for a home somewhere else bad luck will descend upon the owner of the land they’ve just left!