Thieving

This image is derived from the fact that magpies sometimes steal shiny objects and bring them to their nest. Magpies are often depicted as thieves who steal diamonds and other types of jewelry. Examples: the opera The Thieving Magpie by Gioacchino Rossini, the magpie in Alfred J. Kwak, the one in the Tintin album The Castafiore Emerald, and in cartoons such as Mr Bean.

Magpies are birds of the corvidae (crow) family, including the black and white Eurasian Magpie, which is one of the few animal species known to be able to recognize itself in a mirror test. In addition to other members of the genus Pica, corvids considered as magpies are in the genera Cissa, Cyanopica and Urocissa.