American mahjong
Why the 1 Bam is a bird
Why the 1 Bam shows a bird instead of a single bamboo stick, and how each set draws its own bird.
What it means
The bamboo suit draws its ranks as sticks: two sticks for the 2, three for the 3, and so on up to nine. The 1 Bam breaks the rule. On most sets, and on every set here, it shows a bird instead of a single stick.
The bird is usually described as a sparrow, and on some sets it is clearly a peacock or a long-tailed bird of paradise. Whatever the species, it has become the tile's identity: players call for the one bam and look for the bird.
The bird is the one place a suited tile is given over to the set's art. Each set draws its own species, caught in a moment of its own story, beside a single stalk; the 1 in the corner is part of the locked layer and reads the same on every set.
Where the history is uncertain
The usual explanation is that a single bamboo stick read poorly beside the other ranks, or was too easy to alter into a 2 or a 3, so carvers drew a bird in its place. No one is sure that this is the whole story.
The tiles, one by one
Screen 1 of 9 in What's on the tile.
A historian's review of the history on these screens is pending.