. . . . . . "One for Sorrow, Two For Joy"@en . . . . . "Magpies. Black and white birds that feature in a lot of stories. There are also a number of superstitions surrounding magpies (especially in the British Isles) related to warding off the bad luck of a lone magpie. Some superstitions are quick and only require a simple salute while others a bit more eccentric involving pinching, spitting or saying certain phrases. Magpies are particularly noted for thieving tendencies and, as the rhyme indicates, for predicting the future. (This leads to a flock of magpies being a \"tidings of magpies\".) Because they can't appraise value, they tend to be indiscriminate in their thefts; a collector who gets both valuable and cheap things may be compared to one for that reason. Magpies are members of the corvid family and relatives of Ravens and Crows, both in Real Life and as tropes. (The rhyme (in all its manifold variations) is also used for crows, on occasion.) One popular All Is Well That Ends Well Happy Ending is for accusations of theft to be cleared up by the revelation that a magpie stole the item in question. Examples of One for Sorrow, Two For Joy include:"@en . . . . . . "Magpies. Black and white birds that feature in a lot of stories. There are also a number of superstitions surrounding magpies (especially in the British Isles) related to warding off the bad luck of a lone magpie. Some superstitions are quick and only require a simple salute while others a bit more eccentric involving pinching, spitting or saying certain phrases. Magpies are members of the corvid family and relatives of Ravens and Crows, both in Real Life and as tropes. (The rhyme (in all its manifold variations) is also used for crows, on occasion.)"@en . .