I am not sure if this is the ultimate "make do," creation, or whether the peg with bird on top was devised to give flourish to the winning player's triumphant final move, but In any case, a pretty terrific display object I think, and playable yet!
The board, certainly pretty old, is for the ancient strategy game most commonly known as Twelve Men's Morris (a variation on Nine Men's Morris, and also known as mills and marl) played by two people. Players try to form 'mills'—three of their own pegs lined horizontally, vertically or diagonally—allowing a player to remove an opponent's man from the game. A player wins by reducing the opponent to two pieces (where they could no longer form mills and thus be unable to win), or by leaving them without a move.
The carved and painted bird looks to me to be German / Black Forest, pre-1940s or so, and has a peg post which allows it to fit perfectly into a hole on the board. There are 21 additional pegs, of shorter and taller lengths which would distinguish one players pegs from the others. Though it is fairly rare that all 24 pegs would be needed, I've added two red plastic to fill in if needed!
The board, which features lines drawn in pencil, measures approx. 8" x 8" x 5/8". The board measures 6 1/4" l x 2 3/4" t x 1"d. All in good condition with a nice patina of age and wear.
