"Oh, yes please!" said all the bears together.
"OK, here we go," Bubbles responded and continued in a sing-song voice. "One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, And seven for a secret never to be told."
"That's a great rhyme," said Charlie, "but what happens if you see more than seven?"
"I imagine you'd have to do some arithmetic and work out which number would divide most exactly into the amount of magpies!" suggested Bubbles. "But I'm not sure I want to go to all that trouble when I see a big group of them! Arithmetic is not really my strong point!"
"And the one about owls?" asked Custard.
"Well, according to Greek mythology, owls were thought to be wise creatures. The symbol of their goddess of wisdom, Athena, is an owl. Now look out!" Bubbles added urgently, "here come our first birds!"