The best way to avoid bad luck when you pass a magpie is to doff your hat (England). It was the only bird not to enter the Ark, preferring to remain on its own outside. It is also held in awe because it is one of the very few wild creatures that is coloured black and white - a combination of the Devil's colour and the sacred or holy colour of white. A number of incantations are favoured when passing a solitary magpie. I prefer to say, 'Hello Mr Magpie, and how do you do?' - once passing an old lady who advised me that she had just done the selfsame thing! In England, magpies are also counted, 'One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a boy; five for sorrow, six for gold, seven is a secret never to be told, eight is a wish, nine is a kiss and ten is the bird you must not miss.'