Superstitions

Sounds good to me Pete....when I said I ignore them I meant I don't go through the daft ritual of saluting or saying - as I heard one person say "Good morning Mr Magpie"!..Being members of the crow family they are intelligent birds, and I also think they get a bad press...though they do have the naughty habit of raiding other birds' nests...

Sue

Magpies are also pretty good thieves Sue. Dont let them see anything glittering where they can get at it. They will soon take it. Many a ring has been taken by these thieves. Sometimes thier bad rep is well deserved.

By the way, it is true that if you split thier tongue, you can teach them to talk. I had a friend, years ago that did just that. The bird learned to talk very well.

Peter.

As a bird watcher I obviously think that barbaric  , a big no, no in my book.

Muses to self, must take picture of beautiful Magpie and submit it to POE. 

As i said, it was years ago when we were just kids. Today we wold get a slap on the wrist. I still cant work out how ,having a tongue like a snake, could help them to talk. Obviousely I didnt do it, it was my mate. but it sounded good hearing the magpie talk just like a parrot.

Peter.

Interesting!

I would imagine the only death would be that of the poor bird, as the stress of being caught in such a confined space would cause it's heart to fail.

Heavenly and Roses, two members I miss seeing around here.

You're right about the 3's thing Diana. My last trip to the Doctor's I came home with three different problems.