MAGPIE
Pica Pica
This black and white, black-billed, long-tailed Jay is the only member of its family to live in both hemispheres. It has long been known as a thief. Generally, this bird has bad thoughts attached to it and it was the symbol of garrulity. It was sacred to Bacchus, the God of wine, so it became associated with intoxication. Its chattering became tattle-telling and as it was addicted to stealing, it became a symbol of ill omen. It all started with Noah who sent it out of the Ark for either stealing or chattering too much. So it sat on the roof of the Ark where it gossiped and this made it an omen of suspicion. The Romans, however, got a big charge out of its stealing and chattering so kept this bird in barber shops to amuse customers. Rossini wrote an opera called the "The Thieving Magpie" whose overture is very popular today.
Various countries have treated this bird differently. In Germany, its chattering meant that guests were coming but they also thought that witches took on their form and rode on their backs. In Northern Europe, the Magpie was said to have the devil's blood in its tongue. However, if you scratched it and added a drop of human blood, the bird would learn to talk. In Perthshire, it was believed that these birds were able to transform themselves into humans. In Yorkshire, you crossed your thumbs to avert its evil; in Sussex, you bowed and removed your hat; and in the West Country, you just plain spat at it! In England, if you saw too many at one time, you could make the sign of the Cross in the air or on your breast, or you could cross your feet and all would be well. Better yet, was to see a Crow and that would break the spell. In the North of England, some people thought that this bird was a hybrid between the Raven and the Dove and was not baptized in the waters of the Deluge so was bad luck. In Brittany, they went as far as to say that Anne, the Duchess of Brittany, their last sovereign, was betrayed by a Magpie. She hid in the carcass of a horse but the Magpie pecked holes in it and so showed where she was hidden. In Wales, if one hovered over the head of a man, he would lose it. (They rarely hover.) If you cut a cross in a tree where they were nesting, the birds would forsake it.
There is a saying about this bird: "one for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding and four for a birth." So you can see that it was not always a "trashed" bird. The Germans said that while it was wholly bad and had motley plumage, it gave warning that a wolf was approaching or else it was the advent of guests. In Scandinavia, at Christmas time, they placed a sheath of wheat tied to the top of the house for this bird. If a fisherman, in the spring, saw only one bird it meant bad luck as it was too cold to leave the nest and eggs. If two were seen then it would be good weather and good fishing.
The English bishops were often called Magpies by irreverent persons because of their black and white vestments. The words "pied and piebald" came from their plumage. The word "pie" came from its messy nest like some baked pies but a "maggie pie" was supposed to be a great treat.
The Pueblo felt that color was very important and that this bird represented the East with its black and white feathers. It suggested dawn to them so they used their feathers on fetishes. They were the emblem of happiness and a favorite bird of the Manchu dynasty. In Oriental folklore, a Magpie nesting near your house was good luck and it was especially good luck to hear one call before you left on a journey.
Lewis and Clark had to contend with their stealing on their way up the Missouri River in 1804. In spite of this problem, Captain Merriwether Lewis, in his diary, praised them for their beauty. He even captured four of these birds and sent them to President Thomas Jefferson as living trophies of that famous expedition. Because of this expedition, William Clark had Clark's Nutcracker Nucifraga columbiana named for him and Merriwether Lewis had Lewis's Woodpecker Melanerpes lewis to honor him.