There aren’t many sci-fi movies as cleverly written and executed as the 1983 Hollywood classic WarGames, directed by John Badham and written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes. But it might not have been as good as it is if not for the input of the British AI scientist Donald Michie (1923-2007) and his knowledge of game-learning machines, especially computers that can play noughts and crosses.

Who was Donald Michie?

Donald Michie was a codebreaker at Bletchley Park (BP) during the second world war; after the war, a geneticist and later an artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer who founded the first department for machine intelligence in the world at the University of Edinburgh. He made significant contributions to all three fields that he worked in and was instrumental in institutionalising AI and machine learning (ML) research in the UK, and abroad.

A major part of his AI research focused on machines that could play games. However, one of his most famous achievements in this subfield of AI is MENACE (Machine Educable Noughts and Crosses Engine), a mechanical computer made of matchboxes and beads that could learn to play noughts and crosses. MENACE is now considered one of the first working examples of, what ML researchers call, reinforcement learning. This eventually led to the development of the BOXES algorithm by Michie and R. A. Chambers for learning of dynamic systems.

Therefore, it is no surprise that Universal Studios reached out to him when working on WarGames.

Dangerous games

If you haven’t seen it, be warned that there will be spoilers ahead.

WarGames tells the story of a young computer hacker, David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) who accidentally gains access to a US military supercomputer that controls the launch of nuclear warheads. He starts playing games with it thinking that it’s a game-playing machine, which makes the supercomputer run real war-game simulations and almost launch the nuclear warheads. Fortunately, Lightman, along with Prof. Stephen Falken (John Wood), the scientist who designed the supercomputer, makes it play a game of noughts and crosses against itself, which leads the machine to conclude that a Third World War involving nuclear warheads cannot be won, thus stopping it from launching the missiles.

It might be an exaggeration to call it sci-fi as it hits a little too close to reality than most sci-fi movies would. Although there is no public record of any supercomputer malfunctioning and almost launching nuclear warheads to start a world war, there have been a few mishaps in United States alone that have almost caused nuclear detonations, and one incident in 1983 when a Soviet early warning system gave a false alarm of a missile launch by the US.

The fear of the Cold War escalating to a direct nuclear war was alive and well when WarGames was released. However, that was only a part of the reason why the movie became a box office success and a cult classic. It was the presence of an ‘intelligent’ supercomputer that could play games and treat global thermonuclear war as a game, and act on its own to potentially end the world as we know it, that made WarGames such a compelling film.

Michie’s concern

WarGames tapped into a real concern that was prevalent at that time, regarding the increasing inscrutability and influence of large computers that were being used by big companies and government organisations for various purposes. This was something that Michie too was very concerned about and he points out in his correspondence regarding the script consultancy with Universal Studios:

We are all in danger from the current emergence of super-computers inscrutable to man. Very few are yet alert to the seriousness and nature of the peril.

This is not surprising coming from Michie, who had already been discussing the social risks of AI for over a decade by this point. In fact, he was the one who organised the first global conference on the social impact of AI in 1972 at Serbelloni in Italy¹. In the years since then, Michie had raised some of his concerns regarding increasingly complex and sophisticated computers in several publications despite being a pioneer in the field. It makes sense why he was enthusiastic to collaborate on this sci-fi movie project, which was initially titled The Genius.

Main suggestions

“WarGames Correspondence with Universal Studios”, 1981. (Add MS 88958/3/54). Reproduced with permission of the estate of Donald Michie.

In his correspondence, Michie points out five pages worth of technical inaccuracies in the draft script. Most of them are small details regarding the terminologies that are spoken about and technical issues in how the technology is used in various scenes. Michie recommended a lot of minor changes, for instance using the term “printer” instead of “teleprinter,” which was no longer used among the computing community by the 1980s. However, he also pointed out major technical errors, such as that a program once terminated would not have a fragment of itself accidentally re-animated when the computer goes online as was shown in one of the scenes in the draft script.

Although some of Michie’s minor suggestions have been taken into account by the scriptwriters, we can see that most of the technical inaccuracies he pointed out are still there in the final cut of the movie. This includes the premise of Michie’s main suggestion: to consider changing the climax sequence where the machine is self-playing a 3-in-a-row noughts and crosses to “learn” that it’s a game that cannot be won. Michie recommended changing it a game called 5-IN-A-ROW (sometimes called Peggity) as it would take much longer for the computer to self-learn how to play compared to noughts and crosses, which can be learned by a fast computer within seconds. This, in his view, would make the long climax sequence where the computer is learning to play the game more realistic. Moreover, Michie pointed out that the supercomputer “would try to establish the ‘no win’ property by logical proof,” rather than brute-forcing through various playing strategies as is shown in the movie. He states that a computer as sophisticated as the one shown in the movie would not use a ‘try everything’ strategy to learn how to play a game.

Crucial contribution to the script

However, one key suggestion of Michie’s that was taken into account by the studio and the scriptwriters was the technique by which David and Prof. Falken make the computer play itself. In the draft script given to Michie, the computer “somehow” starts self-playing, presumably without a prompt. Michie suggested changing the number of players to “zero” to make the computer play itself. This is what happens in the movie.

Michie also recommends changing the way the supercomputer abruptly stops trying to guess the launch codes of the missiles, as it was in the draft script. He instead suggests that the filmmakers show the computer generalise from the self-play sequence that ‘nuclear wars are not winnable’ and apply this to terminate the war game it was playing. He recommends David or someone else instructing the computer to do this, although this was not taken into account. In the film, the computer automatically generalises from the noughts and crosses self-playing that various real-world nuclear war-game simulations all end up with no winners.

Although Michie’s main suggestion to change the 3-in-a-row game to 5-in-a-row was ignored by the filmmakers, he himself points out in the correspondence that it is not necessary to fix this as ‘there is a risk of distracting from the gripping simplicity of the ending by fussing over side-issues.’ It shows his concern for how well laypeople could receive the movie and its main theme of the futility of nuclear war, rather than focusing too much on the technical inaccuracies or inconsistencies in the script.

Aswin Valsala Narayanan

The Donald Michie Papers at the British Library comprise two separate tranches of material gifted to the Library in 2004 and 2008. They contain correspondence, notes, notebooks, offprints and photographs and are available to researchers.

Aswin Valsala Narayanan is as PhD student at the University of Leeds and the British Library. He is on an WRoCAH Collaborative Doctoral Award researching the Donald Michie Archive, exploring Michie's work as an artificial intelligence researcher in post-war Britain.

[1] Rosamund Powell, “The ‘Artificial Intelligentsia’ and Its Discontents: An Exploration of 1970s Attitudes to the ‘Social Responsibility of the Machine Intelligence Worker,’” BJHS Themes, September 19, 2023, pp.1–15, https://doi.org/10.1017/bjt.2023.8.

There is a good chance that AI research in Britain would not have evolved the way it did had Alan Turing been a great chess player. As a matter of fact, he couldn’t hold a candle to the chess masters, such as Hugh Alexander and Harry Golombek, who were in his Enigma codebreaking team at Bletchley Park (BP). As per one account, Turing once played himself into such a mess that his opponent Golombek turned the board around and tried to save the game for him.

However, Turing’s mediocrity in chess proved to be a blessing for one of the youngest codebreakers at BP, Donald Michie, who was just 18-years-old when he was recruited to the Government Code and Cypher School. Despite having no mathematical background, he proved to be a quick learner and eventually became a key member of Testery — Major Ralph Tester’s team attempting to break the ‘Fish’ codes using manual hand methods. It was during his time at Testery that he met and befriended Turing, who had developed Turingery — one of the manual methods used by codebreakers of Testery.

Donald Michie c. 1974 (Add MS 89072/1/5). Reproduced with permission of the estate of Donald Michie.

While Turing was no match for his chessmaster teammates, in young Michie, he found a partner who could give him a competitive game. They met every week at a pub in Wolverton not too far away from BP. This friendship and weekly chess session proved to be life-changing for Michie.

According to Michie, their conversations invariably centred around ideas of learning machines and mechanising chess, ideas formative to his interest and eventual career in machine intelligence.

Turing and Michie remained friends after the war.

Post-war games and game-playing machines

In the period of 1947-48, Michie and the mathematician Shaun Wylie, another colleague at BP, developed a chess-playing algorithm, or a machine on paper — a ‘paper machine’, so to speak. This was basically a collection of machine-rules to decide the next move using the opponent’s move as input. The ‘MACHIAVELLI’ (so named after creators Michie and Wylie), was created independently of the paper-machine that Turing and his friend David Champernowne developed, named ‘TUROCHAMP.’

I. J. ‘Jack’ Good, who was friends with both Michie and Turing, too took part in the BP discussions of ‘chess-playing’ machines. In fact, Jack Copeland notes that Good recalls Turing speaking about the concept of mechanizing chess in 1941, before Michie’s time at BP. Like Michie, Good was interested in both chess and ‘learning’ machines. He was an excellent chess player apart from being a brilliant mathematician. Good was aware of the challenge that Michie and Wylie made to Turing and Champerowne’s chess-machine, and suggested a way in which MACHIAVELLI could be beaten in a letter he wrote to Turing in 1948:

I visited Oxford last week-end. Donald showed me a 'chess machine' invented by Shaun and himself. It suffers from the very serious disadvantage that it does not analyse more than one move ahead. I am convinced that such a machine could play a very poor game, however accurately it scored the position with respect to matter and space. In fact it could easily be beaten by playing 'psychologically', i.e. by taking into account the main weakness of the machine. This could be done by deliberately complicating the position and entering into combinations.

The correspondences show how the discussions on mechanizing chess from the BP years, evolved during the post-war period. However, these were not just the result of Michie and Turing’s acquaintance with chess players during their time at BP.

They were also shaped very much by the kind of codebreaking work they were involved in.

Colossus [c 1944]. The first-of-its-kind digital codebreaking was used for ‘guided’ searches to break German messages encoded using the Lorenz teleprinter cipher. (c) Crown copyright

 Both Michie’s and Turing’s chess-playing machines involved taking the opponent’s move as input and then creating an output move in response. Both of the algorithms involved ‘searching’ for a good move after considering various possible single moves by ranking them based on variables such as the safety of the piece, and the value of opponent’s pieces that could be captured. This was a guided search for ‘moves’ or ‘solutions’ using an evaluating – or ‘heuristic’ – function to narrow the number of possibilities rather than completing an exhaustive general search through all possible moves. It was conceptually very similar to the machine-aided searches that codebreakers at BP had to conduct to break the German ciphers. Michie’s job, being a key member of Newmanry team that broke the Lorenz cipher using the digital codebreaking machine Colossus, was to come up with solutions to narrow down the daily codebreaking searches of the machines. Such a problem-solving technique that uses a heuristic function to estimate hopeful paths to a solution would eventually be termed as "heuristic search". Michie himself would go on to make a significant contribution to developing and popularising this computational technique during the 1960s with his graph traverser program co-developed with J. E. Doran.

Going through Michie’s archives, we can find that research into chess-machines remained relevant to his entire machine intelligence and AI research career, even during the period that he worked as a geneticist. For instance, during the 1950s he had played MACHIAVELLI against biologist John Maynard Smith’s SOMA (Smith’s One-Move Analyser) in matchup refereed by Maynard Smith’s eldest son. A detailed description of how the machines performed was given in the 1961 New Scientist that Michie wrote together with Maynard Smith: ‘Machines that play games’.

Importance of chess to AI and machine learning

Chess became central to Michie’s research in the 1970s, when his research program was curtailed by the University of Edinburgh in the aftermath of the Lighthill Report that drastically defunded AI research in the UK. Chess endgames research was something Michie could work on with the limited funding he had post-Lighthill. However, for Michie, chess was not just a convenient and playful way to engage his interest in machine intelligence, as he clearly puts it in a 1980 draft titled ‘A representation for pattern knowledge in chess end-games’. In it, he addresses the question of whether those involved in computer chess are just ‘fooling around with the taxpayer’s money,’ and argues that ‘no other equally apposite material is readily available for investigating certain scientific issues of importance.’

This is also a point he emphasised in his 1966 paper, ‘Game-playing and game-learning automata’, referring to Turing’s interest in machines that could play games,:

It is sometimes thought that Turing’s interest in mechanised game playing was the spare time frivolity of a man who reserved his serious thoughts for worthier topics. That was not the case. He had the conviction that the development of high-speed digital computing equipment would make possible the mechanisation of human thought processes of every kind, and that games constituted an ideal model system in which studies of machine intelligence could first be developed.

Chess, for Michie, was the “fruit-fly” of AI research that was perfect for “studying the representation and measurement of knowledge in machines.’’ In another 1980 article ‘Chess with Computers’, he describes in detail why the strategic game is ideal for AI research and its “chief advantages”:

…chess constitutes a well-defined and formalized domain; it challenges the highest levels of intellectual capacity over a wide range of cognitive functions logical concept-formation, calculation, rote-learning, analogical thinking, deductive and inductive reasoning, and so forth; a detailed corpus of chess knowledge has accumulated over centuries in chess instructional works and commentaries; a generally accepted numerical scale for performance is available in the USCF rating system; and finally, the game can readily be decomposed into sub-games which can be subjected to intensive separate analysis.

Michie’s focus on chess-endgames research would eventually contribute to the development of the groundbreaking Iterative Dichotomiser 3 (ID3) learning algorithm for generating decision trees by J. Ross Quinlan, who was one of the many brilliant researchers Michie mentored during his career. In Quinlan’s 1986 paper, he acknowledges Michie’s role in the endeavour:

ID3 (Quinlan, 1979, 1983a) is one of a series of programs developed from CLS in response to a challenging induction task posed by Donald Michie, viz. to decide from pattern-based features alone whether a particular chess position in the King-Rook vs King-Knight endgame is lost for the Knight's side in a fixed number of ply.

This shows how chess shaped the fields of AI and machine learning; chess endgames research also played a key role in the projects of many of Michie’s PhD students from the 1970s and 80s, including Stephen Muggleton, Alan Shapiro and Tim Niblett’s pioneering work on induction methods in machine learning.

Nevertheless, the relationship between chess and AI research remains severely underexplored in the history of AI.

Posted by Aswin Valsala Narayanan

Further reading:

Donald Michie, “Alan Turing’s Mind Machines,” February 8, 2008, https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/7626.003.0005.

Herbert A. Simon and Allen Newell, “Heuristic Problem Solving: The Next Advance in Operations Research,” Operations Research 6, no. 1 (1958): 1–10.

Donald Michie, “Game-Playing and Game-Learning Automata,” in Advances in Programming and Non-Numerical Computation (Elsevier, 1966), 183–200.

Donald Michie, “Chess with Computers,” Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 5, no. 3 (January 1, 1980): 215–27, https://doi.org/10.1179/isr.1980.5.3.215.

J. R. Quinlan, “Induction of Decision Trees,” Machine Learning 1, no. 1 (March 1, 1986): 81–106, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00116251.

The Donald Michie Papers at the British Library comprise two separate tranches of material gifted to the Library in 2004 and 2008. They contain correspondence, notes, notebooks, offprints and photographs and are available to researchers.

Aswin Valsala Narayanan is as PhD student at the University of Leeds and the British Library. He is on an WRoCAH Collaborative Doctoral Award researching the Donald Michie Archive, exploring Michie's work as an artificial intelligence researcher in post-war Britain.

The fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the British Library is an opportunity to look back at the leading role the Library and its parent bodies played in introducing computerised information retrieval for science and medicine to the UK. Between 1965 and 1975 experiments in searching databases of medical research were carried out in partnership with the US National Library of Medicine (NLM)  together with computer scientists and medical users in the UK. Following the success of these experiments the Library launched BLAISE (British Library Automated Information Service)  as a national public service in 1977.

The NLM began publishing Index Medicus, an index of medical journal articles, in 1879. In 1960 printing was computerised and the machine readable data on tape became available for information retrieval. A publicly available US service, MEDLARS (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System) opened in 1963 with MEDLINE  (MEDLARS online) going live in 1971. [1]

 In 1965 the NLM agreed with the National Lending Library for Science and Technology [2] to supply tapes in exchange for MEDLARS records of UK medical literature. With these tapes in hand the Office of Science and Technology Information [3]  funded Newcastle University to develop a retrieval package based on NLM’s IBM software to run on the university’s English Electric computer. Subsequent projects in 1973-74 tested the online environment and current awareness services with medical researchers and librarians in Leeds and Manchester over an online telephone link. [4]

The next step in service delivery was to establish online access to the NLM. University College London had set up a link to the US through ARPANET, the early version of the internet [5], and in 1973 British Library Research & Development [3] along with other public bodies, joined this network. This programme was historically significant as the first international communication over the internet. Project STEIN (Short Term Experimental Information Network) involved sixteen centres (e.g. the Royal Post-Graduate Medical School) each with its own terminal and trained intermediary.  The number of users (362) and searches (1217) was substantial and the study confirmed the need for intermediaries who were experienced in using the system and formulating searches. The clinicians and researchers who accompanied each session evaluated the results and gave feedback. Despite difficulties with telecoms, satisfaction was high as searches delivered articles that were new together with articles that were familiar to the users, thus increasing their confidence in the search. [6]

These encouraging results led the Library in 1977 to launch BLAISE, a fully supported public service providing Medline and databases for toxicology and cancer. Tapes were delivered monthly from Washington by diplomatic bag to a computer bureau in Harlow to run on an IBM 370 machine with NLM’s ELHILL retrieval software. Mounting tested software on an established bureau service meant that BLAISE went live within a year. Users benefited from the dedicated BLAISE PSS (Packet Switched Service) network and a support team that provided training, documentation and a help desk, alongside document supply from the British Library Lending Division at Boston Spa.[7] At first researchers and clinicians used Medline for checking references or keeping up to date but it has since become an essential tool for the evidence based medicine community to generate systematic reviews and contribute to the Cochrane Library.[8] From 1977 the Library was the sole provider of NLM databases in the UK but in a political decision in 1982 NLM, as a federal agency, was required to release its products to US online providers. With the ensuing competition BLAISE was no longer able to support a UK based service and it was relaunched as BLAISE-LINK, a UK portal for online access to NLM. Within a few years customers moved over to commercial online hosts and BLAISE-LINK closed. 

Today, the Library continues online healthcare with the publication of AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine Database). This database supplements the coverage of Medline in areas such as alternative medicine, palliative care and rehabilitation. [9]

We have come a long way in fifty years.  In 1973 searching involved expensive telecoms and computer access, clumsy equipment  (who now remembers audio-acoustic couplers?) minimal records, complex Boolean search strings and the need for skilled medical librarians to navigate all these obstacles. Now, there is free access to the internet and PubMed, open access full text and sophisticated relevance searching empowering every user. Information has exploded:  in 1976, Medline and its associated files had 3.5 million records, by 2022, PubMed had 35 million. [10] 

References [BL shelfmark]

All URLs accessed on 7 July 2023.

[1] MEDLINE History. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medline/medline_history.html

[2] The National Lending Library for Science and Technology (NLLST) was the predecessor of the British Library Lending Division and later, the Document Supply Centre. The service is currently available as British Library On Demand.

Barr, D. P. The National Lending Library for Science and Technology. Postgraduate Medical Journal. 42.493 (1966): 695. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2466097/pdf/postmedj00407-0003.pdf

[3] The Office of Science and Technology Information (OSTI) was the predecessor of British Library Research & Development which promoted and funded R&D by the UK library and information community until its merger with the Library and Information Commission in 1999.

Baxter, P. "The role of the British Library R&D department in supporting library and information research in the United Kingdom." Journal of the American Society for Information Science 36.4 (1985): 276. https://www.proquest.com/openview/77a69cbd42dd0412f39b217892f95ac2/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1818555 

[4] Barraclough, E. Information Retrieval, its origins in Newcastle. http://history.cs.ncl.ac.uk/anniversaries/40th/webbook/infoRetrieval/index.html

Harley, A. J., and Elizabeth D. Barraclough. MEDLARS information retrieval in Britain. Postgraduate medical journal 42.484 (1966): 69. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2465839/pdf/postmedj00398-0003.pdf

[5] Kirstein, P. T. "Early experiences with the Arpanet and Internet in the United Kingdom." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 21.1 (1999): 38-44. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/doc/10.1.1.112.8527

Computer History – Internet history of the 1970s.  https://www.computerhistory.org/internethistory/1970s/

[6]  Holmes, P. A description of the British Library’s short-term experimental information network project. pp 231-237 - 1st International On-line Information Meeting, London 13-15 December 1977 / organised by On-line Review, the international journal of on-line information systems. (1977). Oxford ; New York: Learned Information. [available in the British Library at shelfmark 2719.x.4085 ]

Holmes, P. (1978). On-line information retrieval: An introduction and guide to the British Library's short-term experimental information network project / P.L. Holmes. Vol.2, Experimental use of medical information services. (Research and development reports (British Library) ; no.5397). London: British Library Research and Development Department. [available in the British Library at shelfmark 2113.560000F BLRDR 5397 ]

Trials were also made with other scientific and engineering databases on the Lockheed Dialog system.

(7) Holmes, P. L. The British Library Automated Information Service (BLAISE). Online Review 3.3 (1979): 265-274. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/eb024003/full/html       

BLAISE also provided bibliographic databases for the British National Bibliography and the Library of Congress, finally closing in 2002.

[8] McKibbon, K. A. Evidence-based practice. Bulletin of the medical library association 86.3 (1998): 396. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC226388/pdf/mlab00092-0108.pdf

Cochrane Library. https://www.cochranelibrary.com/about/about-cochrane-reviews

[9] Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED) https://www.ebsco.com/products/research-databases/allied-and-complementary-medicine-database-amed

[10] Miles, W. (1982). A history of the National Library of Medicine : The nation's treasury of medical knowledge. (NIH publication ; no.82-1904). Bethesda, Md.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine. [p.386 -3.5 m records, 1976] https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/bookviewer?PID=nlm:nlmuid-8218545-bk

PubMed Milestone - 35 Millionth Journal Citation Added. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/nd22/brief/nd22_pubmed_milestone.html

Further reading

Bourne, C., & Hahn, Trudi Bellardo. (2003). A history of online information services, 1963-1976, Cambridge, Mass. ; London: MIT. [Available in the British Library on open shelf: Humanities 2 Reading Room HUR 025.04]

Written by Richard Wakeford (Science Reference Specialist, Retired). Richard was a member of the BLAISE support team, 1981-1984.

For us and for nature, facts are not enough. We need stories too.

Facts tell us something. We need facts, yes, but we need more. To understand facts, and for them to help us act, we need to connect with them in a way that is meaningful to us. Sharing our experiences of nature, especially in the form of stories, is one way of making connections, as Andrea Deri mentioned in her recent post. There, she described how naturalists over centuries have told us of their experiences of nature as well as their methodical observations. Although not a naturalist myself, I believe in the power of sharing stories. Here are two memorable experiences I have had at the Library.

A Charm of Goldfinches
Goldfinch: Carduelis carduelis

Photograph courtesy of Greg Smith. Taken 2 Jan 2021, Alexandra Palace, London.

In the grey white days of one winter I frequently sat quietly in the staff lounge reading and looking out towards the Crick Institute. An occasional pigeon would attract my attention as it sped past. One day stands out in my mind, as I saw a flash of colour as well as movement. For a brief, beautiful moment, six goldfinches grazed on the grey, grassy mounds outside the window before taking to the air for some other, unimagined place.

The Pigeon and the Magpie
(Columba livia domestica and Pica pica)

Photograph courtesy of Greg Smith. Taken 16 Oct 2022 at Alexandra Palace, London.

As I remember it now, it was a late winter’s day with just enough warmth and blue sky to raise my anticipation of spring. I was sitting on the piazza in the pale, promising sunlight when I turned my head briskly at a sudden movement sensed out of the corner of my eye. Up on the ornamental green bars at the corner of the Knowledge Centre, a pigeon was struggling to escape, one of its small feet apparently trapped. I winced after each desperate flutter, picturing its body hanging by a tendon in its tiny foot, imagining its pain. As I stared, I became aware of others around me who had also been captivated by the drama high above the ground. We released a collective groan as the drama darkened.
As we stared at the small body, hanging for longer and longer moments between flutters, a flash of black and white swooped and pecked. A magpie had seen an opportunity that none of us unwilling spectators could bear to watch. Nor could we look away. The pigeon, we realised as one mind, was not destined to starve to death, but to be eaten alive. Something the pigeon knew instantly. The magpie swooped again, then a third time, provoking the pigeon into ever more desperate beating of its wings. The magpie found a perch near enough to peck at its leisure, targeting the head and eyes. We tried to turn our eyes away but were irresistibly drawn back. As we began to lose hope, the pigeon made one superlative effort and broke loose. The relief swept through the light air of the piazza, drawing a soft ripple of applause from those of us who had borne witness to one soul who had raged successfully against the dying of the light.

Further Reading

Fischer, D., Fücker, Sonja, editor, & Selm, Hanna, editor. (2022). Narrating sustainability through storytelling. Available in the British Library through Non-Print Legal Deposit
Friedmann, H. (1946). The symbolic goldfinch: Its history and significance in European devotional art. (Bollingen series; 7). Washington: Pantheon Books. Available in the British Library at shelfmark 7868.ff.36
Macfarlane, R. (2019). Underland: A deep time journey. Penguin. Available in the British Library through Non-Print Legal Deposit or at shelfmark YK.2020.a.1303
Moreton, C. (2007). Maid and the Magpie An Interesting Tale Founded on Facts. Project Gutenberg.
Nanson, A. (2021). Storytelling and Ecology : Empathy, Enchantment and Emergence in the Use of Oral Narratives. (Bloomsbury Advances in Ecolinguistics). Available in the British Library through Non-Print Legal Deposit
Thomas, D. (1952). Collected Poems, 1934-1952. [With a portrait.]. J. M. Dent & Sons, 1952. Available in the British Library at shelfmark 11613.bb.15.
Woodward, I., Arnold, Richard, and London Natural History Society. (2017). The London bird atlas. John Beaufoy Publishing Ltd. Available in the British Library at shelfmark YKL.2019.b.1828

By Huw Rowlands, Cataloguer and Processing Coordinator, Western Heritage Collection
Photographs by Greg Smith, ESTC Support, Content and Metadata Processing South

Figure 1 Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) is alert, ready to take off (13 June 2023) British Library, St Pancras Photo: Andrea Deri

The woodpigeon (Columba palumbus L.) is one of the most noticeable birds around the British Library’s St Pancras site.

Figure 2 Woodpigeon perches high (11 June 2023) and waddles low, searching for food under the terrace tables (22 May 2022) British Library, St Pancras Photo: Andrea Deri

This affable plump bird can be seen perching high on building edges, waddling low on the ground in search of food or engaged in a variety of social behaviour [1]: courtship, posturing, wing fight, thrashing out of the foliage in a conceding flight, or flying over with powerful wingbeats [2] [Fig.1-5, 11].

Figure 3 Woodpigeon courtship (12 June 2023) British Library, St Pancras, Photo: Andrea Deri

It is not only their sociability and size [3], about 500 grams, the largest [4] pigeon in the UK avifauna, but also their sheer number that makes the woodpigeon easy to spot throughout the year. According to The London Bird Atlas [5] the woodpigeon was the most abundant bird during the winter and breeding time surveys in 2008-13.

Figure 4 Woodpigeon nest in ivy (Hedera helix) (11 June 2022) and in Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) (7 July 2023) British Library, St Pancras, Photo: Andrea Deri

Woodpigeons have made their home around the British Library in London. They nest in the dense foliage of woody climbers: common ivy (Hedera helix) [6] and Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) [7]. One of their fledglings was spotted on a chair in March 2023.

Figure 5 Woodpigeon fledgling near a nest in ivy (22 March 2023) British Library, St Pancras, Photo: Andrea Deri

Ronald Keir Murton’s monograph [8] and PhD thesis [9] provide comprehensive overviews of the woodpigeon’s biology, ecology, and behaviour.

Timeline: from woods to trees

The woodpigeon, as its name suggests, was once only associated with forests and woods. The timeline of its journey from woods to trees, from the countryside to the city is revealed by ornithologists’ observations:

1544 – 1884 – 1888 – 1891 – 1957 – 2010 – 2014 – 2023
Woods                     Trees

1544 - William Turner, a physician and natural historian, referred to the woodpigeon as the “coushot” or “ringged dove” and described it as a forest dwelling bird [Fig. 6-7].

Figure 6 The woodpigeon’s name in Greek, Latin, English and German in William Turner’s Avium praecipuarum quarum apud Plinium et Aristotlem mentio est brevis & succinta historia (1544): British Library, Shelfmark 976.f.4

Turner’s treatise [10], written in Latin, is considered the oldest printed book dedicated to birds. It lists bird species mentioned by Aristotle and Pliny with Turner’s own observations.

Both the Latin editions (1544, 1823) [11] and the English translation (1903) [12] are available online.

Figure 7 Description of the woodpigeon in William Turner’s Avium praecipuarum quarum apud Plinium et Aristotlem mentio est brevis & succinta historia (1544): British Library, Shelfmark 976.f.4

Turner’s bird book is a small thin volume that sits comfortably in the hand, without illustrations and pagination. [Fig. 7-8]

Figure 8 Spine, size comparison with a recent birdwatcher’s guide & binoculars: William Turner’s Avium praecipuarum quarum apud Plinium et Aristotlem mentio est brevis & succinta historia (1544): British Library, Shelfmark 976.f.4

The British Library has two copies of Turner’s bird book. The copy at shelfmark 976.f.4 is particularly interesting because it belonged probably to Sir Hans Sloane [13], owner of one of the British Library’s founding [14] and named collections [15], now controversial due to his wife's inheritance of money obtained from slave-worked Jamaican sugar plantations. The black octagonal stamp “Museum Britannicum” on the title page verso was intended to distinguish Sloane’s books alone but later acquisitions were also stamped with it. [Fig.9]

Figure 9 The black octagonal stamp “Museum Britannicum” marked items of the Sloane Collection including William Turner’s Avium praecipuarum quarum apud Plinium et Aristotlem mentio est brevis & succinta historia (1544): British Library, Shelfmark 976.f.4

1884 - Henry Seebohm [16], steel manufacturer and amateur ornithologist, portrayed the woodpigeon a “common resident in the wooded districts” of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, except those tame ones living in Paris’ and Berlin’s parks. [Fig. 10]

Figure 10 Henry Seebohm: A history of British Birds with coloured illustrations of their eggs, 4 volumes (1884): title page and page 396 in vol. 2, British Library, Shelfmark 7287.c.2.

1888 & 1891 - Tristram-Valentine [17] solicitor and amateur ornithologist, was genuinely surprised to see woodpigeons in London:

“Probably the last bird that a countryman would expect to find in London would be the ringdove or, as it is more commonly called, the woodpigeon; yet this bird, though not by any means common, is generally to be seen in the Parks, and certainly claim to be included in any list of London birds […].” (25 February 1888; page 193)

“It is certainly curious that a bird naturally so wild and wary as the wood-pigeon should so alter its habit as to live the year through in parks even as large as those of the West End, surrounded as they are by miles of streets and buildings.” (25 February 1888; page 193)

Three years later transformative change happened. The woodpigeon became “the most noticeable” London bird according to Tristram-Valentine:

“The enormous increase during the last few years in the number of wood-pigeons frequenting the London Parks must have struck the least observant. Formerly a few pairs bred there every year, Kensington Gardens and the grounds of Buckingham Palace being their favourite nesting-places ; but a few years since their numbers began to increase, and they are now— sparrows always excepted—the commonest of London birds, and are certainly, without any exception, the most noticeable.“ (4 July 1891 page 238)

1957 – The Committee of the London Natural History Society [18] referred to the woodpigeon as “common resident, breeding throughout the [London] Area.”

2010 – Robert A. Robinson [19], senior scientists of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) discussed the woodpigeon as a species of the towns and gardens habitats, not in woodlands and scrubs. Robinson listed the woodpigeon as one of the eight bird species typical of urban and suburban areas, “house sparrow, starling, blackbird, magpie, collared dove, greenfinch, carrion crow, and increasingly woodpigeon.”

2023 - BTO also refers to the woodpigeon as a common bird that can be seen across a range of habitats [3]. In addition to the woodpigeon’s biology and ecology, BTO also discusses various anthropogenic drivers of the woodpigeon’s population increase, 153% (1967-2020).

In the 2023 RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch [20] the woodpigeon ranked fourth. It was seen in 76.8% of gardens (after the robin 84.5%, blackbird 82.5%, and blue tit 77.5%). This list shows that the woodpigeon is one of the most noticeable birds not only at the British Library’s St Pancras site but also in the UK.

Figure 11 Woodpigeon resting (13 June 2023) British Library, St Pancras Photo: Andrea Deri

People and wildlife

When naturalists take note of their observations, they record not only what species they see, where, when and in what numbers, but also their thoughts and feelings about wildlife as some of the quotes above illustrate. This human connection makes their stories not only appealing but also indicative of their, the birdwatchers’ relationship with wildlife.
Given its size, tameness, and uninhibited social life the woodpigeon offers one of the best opportunities, if not the best, for people, all of us, to watch their behaviour closely, learn about their daily and seasonal routines, and connect with these birds.

The woodpigeon’s influence on people’s connection with wildlife cannot be underestimated.

Posted by Andrea Deri, Cataloguer

Acknowledgement

Ann McDermott, ESTC Cataloguer, Early Printed Collections, British Library for providing resources related to William Turner’s Avium (1544).
Dr Karen Limper-Herz, Lead Curator, Incunabula and Sixteenth Century Printed Books and Greg Smith, ESTC Support for their suggestions.

References and further readings [British Library shelfmark]

All URLs were accessed on 10 July 2023.

[1] Gomez, Africa. ‘Woodpigeon Calls and Displays’. The Rattling Crow (blog), 27 March 2017. http://therattlingcrow.blogspot.com/2017/03/woodpigeons-calls-and-displays.html
[2] Pedley, William. ‘Woodpigeon Wingbeats’, 26 October 1975. https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/woodpigeon-columba-palumbus-wingbeats.
[3] BTO. ‘Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) (Linnaeus, 1758)’. BirdFacts: Key information about the UK’s birds and their changing fortunes, based on data collected by BTO and partner organisations., 2023. https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/woodpigeon
[4] BTO. ‘Woodpigeon (Columba Palumbus)’, 2023. https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/gbw/gardens-wildlife/garden-birds/a-z-garden-birds/wood-pigeon
[5] Woodward, Ian D., Richard Arnold, and Neil Smith. The London Bird Atlas. [London], Oxford: London Natural History Society; John Beaufoy Publishing, 2017. [YKL.2019.b.1828]
[6] Plant Atlas 2020. ‘Common & Atlantic Ivy (Hedera Helix s.l.)’, 2020. https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.95p1tn
[7] Plant Atlas 2020. ‘Virginia-Creeper (Parthenocissus Quinquefolia (L.) Planch.)’, 2020. https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.n0d
[8] Murton, R. K. The Wood-Pigeon. The New Naturalist. London: Collins, 1965. [(B) GD 29 (C5)]
[9] Murton, R. K. ‘The Ecology of Wood-Pigeon Populations with Special Reference to Their Breeding Biology’. PhD, University of Liverpool, 1962. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=1&uin=uk.bl.ethos.287121
[10] Turner, William. Avium Praecipuarum Quarum apud Plinium et Aristotlem Mentio Est Brevis & Succinta Historia, 1544. [976.f.4 and 954.b.11]
[11] Turner, William. Avium Praecipuarum Quarum apud Plinium et Aristotlem Mentio Est Brevis & Succinta Historia, 1544. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=s106AAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=thumbnail&q&f=false
[11] Turner, William. Avium Praecipuarum Quarum apud Plinium et Aristotlem Mentio Est Brevis & Succinta Historia. Cantabrigiae: typis academicis excudebat Joan Smith, 1823. https://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100036705079.0x000001#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&xywh=-1142%2C-120%2C3535%2C2346
[12] Turner, William. Turner on Birds?: A Short and Succinct History of the Principal Birds Noticed by Pliny and Aristotle First Published by Doctor William Turner, 1544. Translated by A. H. Evans. Cambridge?: University Press, 1903. [7285.dd.9.] https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.160035.
[13] British Library. ‘Sloane Printed Books Catalogue’, 1 February 2023. https://www.bl.uk/projects/sloane-printed-books
[14] British Library. ‘The Foundation Collections’, 2023. https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/TourCollFound.asp
[15] British Library. ‘Major Named Collections of Printed Books’, 2023. https://www.bl.uk/collection-guides/major-named-collections-of-printed-books-now-in-the-british-library
[16] Seebohm, Henry. A History of British Birds, with Coloured Illustrations of Their Eggs. 4
volumes vols. London: R. H. Porter, 1883-85. [7287.c.2.], also online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/12367
[18] Tristram-Valentine, J.T. London Birds and Beasts. London, 1895. [7206.bb.20]
[19] Homes, R.C. The Birds of the London Area since 1900. The New Naturalist. London:
Collins, 1957. pp. 211-212 [W.P. 12018/12]
[20] Robinson, Robert A. ‘State of Bird Populations in Britain and Ireland’. In Silent Summer: The State of Wildlife in Britain and Ireland, edited by Norman Maclean, 281–318. Cambridge?; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. [YK.2010.a.19902]
[21] RSPB. ‘The Results from across the UK Have Landed!’ Big Garden Birdwatch, 2023. https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/

Alongside the Animals exhibition the British Library hosts a permanent show of animal fossils, hiding in plain sight. As you cross the Piazza on a visit to the Library you tread on limestone brought from the Hauteville region of the French Jura. This stone formed in the early Cretaceous period (145 and 100 million years ago - Ma) in a warm, shallow sea, teeming with life. The commonest fossils found here are spiral gastropods, similar in appearance to auger snails found today. These snails are filter feeders, living partly buried in the mud and capturing particles of food as they pass by in the sea water. Other animals such as soft bodied marine worms have left no fossils, nevertheless, we can see the tracks of their burrows as dark streaks in the stone.

Hauteville limestone

Outside the door of the Knowledge Centre a group of coin sized discs reveal the branches of a sponge, sliced in cross section. Compare this to a modern sponge such as the Mermaid’s Glove and again we see how little some marine animals have changed over the millennia.

Fossilised sponges, with a penny coin for scale

Entering the front door of the Library, the floor is made of Portland stone, formed in the Jurassic period (150-145 Ma) in another warm tropical sea. Fossil shells, similar to oysters, are scattered among calcareous algal pellets which show as small white patches.

Portland stone flooring, with a penny to show scale

Moving to the Upper Ground Floor, Portland stone is laid alongside dark Purbeck marble, crowded with the fossil remains of bivalve mussels that thrived in a muddy fresh water lagoon.

Mussel fossils in marble, with a penny for scale

If you would like to find out more about our fossils and stones see our report A Geology of the British Library. Building stone makes an easily accessible introduction to geology; explore further with London Pavement Geology.

Written by and all photographs taken by Richard Wakeford (Science Reference Specialist, Retired)

Summer has arrived but some spring flowers are still around in British Library’s St Pancras site’s Floor 3 Garden. This three-cornered garlic (Allium triquetrum L. 1753) is one of them [1,2]. It was prominent with its white flowers in May and covered half of the terrace’s wild area. Now, when its seeds are in the process of maturation, when its wilting leaves and stalks are lying on other plants and on the ground, they are less noticeable. However, they are worth finding. Something exciting is happening around the three-cornered garlic’s black seeds.

Three-cornered garlic (Allium triquetrum L. 1753), 30-45 cm, in flower on 4 May 2023, Floor 3 Garden, The British Library St Pancras, London Photo: Andrea Deri

The triangular (slightly winged) structure and rather familiar smell of garlic or leek is easy to feel when you roll the stalk of the three-cornered garlic between your fingers. Its Latin name refers to these qualities. The first name, Allium, refers to the onion genus; the second name, its species name within the genus, triquetrum, Latin for triangular in cross-section. 2 May 2023, Floor 3 Garden, The British Library St Pancras, London Photo: Andrea Deri

Three-cornered garlic covered half of the terrace’s wild area. 11 May 2023, Floor 3 Garden, The British Library St Pancras, London Photo: Andrea Deri

The wilting stalk and flowers are resting on other plants and the ground as the seeds are maturing. 25 May 2023, Floor 3 Garden, The British Library St Pancras, London Photo: Methaporn Singhanan

The white shiny oil-containing cap-like appendage on the black seed of the three-cornered garlic, called the elaiosome indicates a mutually beneficial plant-animal relationship [3]: myrmecochory, seed dispersal by ants[4,5].

Both terms, elaiosome and myrmecochory are combinations of Greek words.

Elaiosome: oil-containing appendage on the seed that “attracts” ants.

έλαιον (elaion)  - oil, oily substance[6]

σώμα (soma) – body[7]

Myrmecochory: seed dispersal by ants; literally: dance or movement of ants.

μυρμηξ   μυρμηκος (myrmex, myrmekos) - ant, ants[8]

χoρεια  (choreia) - dance, choral dance with music and also movement of animals[9]

Under the white petals the bulky green fruit encapsulates black seeds with white appendages. 25 May 2023, Floor 3 Garden, The British Library St Pancras, London Photo: Methaporn Singhanan

Wrapped around white petals the translucent green bulky fruit reveals the black seeds inside. 25 May 2023, Floor 3 Garden, The British Library St Pancras, London Photo: Methaporn Singhanan

Having opened the green bulky fruit one of the black seeds with shiny white appendage, the elaiosome, oil containing body, becomes visible. 25 May 2023, Floor 3 Garden, The British Library St Pancras, London Photo: Methaporn Singhanan

Attracted by the elaiosome, ants pick up it up with the seed, which together are often larger than the ants’ body, carry it to their nest, eat and feed their young ants with the nutritious oily tissue of the elaiosome, and then dump the stripped seed away from their nest. 

The elaiosome (white cap on the dark seed) is about the same size as one tooth of a recycled plastic table knife in the canteen. 25 May 2023, Floor 3 Garden, The British Library St Pancras, London Photo: Methaporn Singhanan

The seed and the elaiosome together are about 3-4 mm. 25 May 2023, Floor 3 Garden, The British Library St Pancras, London Photo: Methaporn Singhanan, Andrea Deri

Title page of Rutger Sernander’s (1906) monograph on European myrmecochory. [(P) BX 80 -E(11)]

Both ants and plants benefit from this movement of seeds. Ants profit from the nutritious seasonal food source; the three-cornered garlic is getting its seeds moved to new germinating grounds.

According to a recent study[10] over four percent of known plant species are myrmecochorous, that is, their seed dispersal is facilitated by ants. As an adaptive reproduction strategy myrmecochory appears to have evolved several times in phylogenetically unrelated plants.

Johan Rutger Sernander (1866-1944) [11], a Swedish botanist, published the first monograph on myrmecochory in 1906. The British Library holds a copy of this rare opus. Sernander’s comprehensive work is unique for his field experiments related to several European ant species’ preferences between various plants’ seeds and their elaiosome. The three-cornered garlic was included in the experiments and in the monograph’s splendid illustrations.

Table I Fruits and seeds with elaiosomes of various plant species. 7-8 Three-cornered garlic (Allium triquetrum) in Sernander (1906) [(P) BX 80 -E(11)]

Enlarged image: 7-8 Three-cornered garlic in Table I Fruits and seeds with elaiosomes of various plant species. Sernander (1906) [(P) BX 80 -E(11)]

Table 4 Cross-section of elaiosomes of various plant species under microscope. 135 (bottom-centre) Three-cornered garlic (Allium triquetrum). Note the large oil containing cells. Sernander (1906) [(P) BX 80 -E(11)]

While the three-cornered garlic benefits from myrmecochory it also spreads by bulbs. Furthermore, milder winters due to unfolding climatic changes also facilitate the plant’s expansion. The three-cornered garlic, native to the Mediterranean[12,13] is spreading fast towards the north[14,15]. It is now considered an invasive species in the UK and “it is an offence under Schedule 9 [16] of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in England and Wales to plant or otherwise cause to grow this species in the wild.”

While you can’t grow this species in the wild, you can eat it as much as you like[17]. Unlike ants that eat only the elaiosome, foraging people consume all parts, raw or cooked[18]. 

So, how did the three-cornered garlic find its home on the British Library’s Floor 3 terrace garden? This is an enigma. Certainly not by our gardeners’ intentional planting. Perhaps non-human gardeners, including ants and other animals?

Three-cornered garlic in Camley Street Natural Park, London, 11 May 2023 Photo: Andrea Deri

Having checked all other public green spaces around the British Library in St Pancras in May 2023, three-cornered garlic was not found in the neighbourhood. The nearest place where its blossom and whiff of garlic were impossible to miss was Camley Street Natural Park [19]. Perhaps a visit to Camley Street facilitated the seed dispersal to the British Library in a bit of soil stuck to a pair of shoes or claws? Perhaps other unintentional actions? Anyway, the introduction was successful. Compared to last year (2022), significantly more three-cornered garlic flowered in the British Library Floor 3 garden this year (2023).

Illustration of the ant and the grasshopper in winter from Aesop. ‘Fab. CXXI. The Ant and the Grashopper’. In The Fables of Aesop and Others Translated into English And a Print before Each Fable by Samuel Croxall, D.D. Late Archdeacon of Hereford, The tenth edition carefully revised, and Improved., London: Printed for W. Strahan, J, [and others], 1775. pages 205–206. [Digital Store 1568/8258.]

Many generations have grown up on Aesop’s (d: 564 BC) [20] tale and morals about the ant and the grasshopper.

Dancing ants inspired by myrmecochory by Matthew Waters, 23 May 2023.

I am curious, what counter-stories myrmecochory could inspire about the “dancing” gourmet ants?

Written by Andrea Deri, Cataloguer, British Library

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to Matthew Waters, Manuscript Cataloguer, British Library for drawing dancing ants to illustrate this blog post and inspire counter-stories of Aesop’s classic tale, and Methaporn Singhanan, Chevening Fellow at the British Library 2022-23 for engaging in the exploration of wildlife around the British Library and sharing her photographs.

References [BL shelfmark]

All URLs accessed on 5 June 2023.

[1] Rose, Francis. The wild flower key: How to identify wild flowers, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland. Revised and Extended edition. London: Frederick Warne, 2006. pages 514-15 [YK.2007.a.20577]

[2] IPNI. ‘Allium Triquetrum in International Plant Name Index’, 2023. https://www.ipni.org/?q=Allium%20triquetrum

 [3] Jones, Richard. Ants: The Ultimate Social Insects. Vol. 11. British Wildlife Collection. London: Bloomsbury Wildlife, 2022. [ELD.DS.666937]

[4] Morley, Wragge. Ants. Vol. 8. New Naturalist Monograph Series. London: Collins, 1953. [W.P.12018/5., W41/8118, (B) G 65 (F1)]

[5] Brian, M. V. Ants. The New Naturalist. London: Collins, 1977. [(B) G 61,
Document Supply 79/34771]

[6-9] Liddell, Henry George, Robert Scott, and Henry Stuart Jones. A Greek - English Lexicon …  A New Edition Revised and Augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones [and others] Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961. Page 527, 1749, 1154, 1998 [Open Access Humanities 1 Reading Room HLR 483]

[10] Lengyel, Szabolcs, Aaron D. Gove, Andrew M. Latimer, Jonathan D. Majer, and Robert R. Dunn. ‘Convergent Evolution of Seed Dispersal by Ants, and Phylogeny and Biogeography in Flowering Plants: A Global Survey’. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 12, no. 1 (2010): 43–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2009.08.001. [6428.149200]

[11] Sernander, Rutger. Entwurf einer Monographie der europäischen Myrmekochoren ... Mit 11 Tafeln und 29 Textfiguren, etc. Stockholm, 1906. [(P) BX 80 -E(11)]

[12] Allium triquetrum L. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science

[13] BSBI. ‘Definitions: Wild, Native or Alien?’, 2023. https://bsbi.org/definitions-wild-native-or-alien.

[14] Taylor, I., and K.J. Walker. Three-Cornered Garlic Allium Triquetrum L.  in BSBI Online Plant Atlas 2020. Edited by P.A. Stroh, T.A. Humphrey, R.J. Burkmar, O.L. Pescott, D.B. Roy, and K.J. Walker. Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI), UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Biological Records Centre, 2020. https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.ezp.

[15] Botany in Scotland. ‘Plant of the Week, 27th March 2023 – Three-Cornered Garlic -Allium Triquetrum’. Botany in Scotland (blog), 27 March 2023. https://botsocscot.wordpress.com/2023/03/26/plant-of-the-week-27th-march-2023-three-cornered-garlic-allium-triquetrum/.

[16] UK Government. ‘Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 You Are Here: UK Public General Acts1981 c. 69SCHEDULE 9’, 1981. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/69/schedule/9.

[17] Wild Food UK. ‘Three-Cornered Leek’, 2023. https://www.wildfooduk.com/edible-wild-plants/three-cornered-leek/.

[18] Samangooei, Mina. ‘Individuals Cultivating Edible Plants on Buildings in England’. Oxford Brookes University, 2016. [EThOS DRT 800185]

[19] Camley Street Natural Park | London Wildlife Trust (wildlondon.org.uk)

[20] Aesop. ‘Fab. CXXI. The Ant and the Grashopper’. In The Fables of Aesop and Others Translated into English And a Print before Each Fable by Samuel Croxall, D.D. Late Archdeacon of Hereford, The tenth edition carefully revised, and Improved., London: Printed for W. Strahan, J, [and others], 1775. Pages 205–206. [Digital Store 1568/8258.]

What’s going on in the British Library at night? A creamy-brown mottled feather with a broken quill might shed light on some unexpected activities.

A feather

A feather was spotted on a sunny crisp lunch break walk on 15 February 2023. [Fig. 1, 2]

Figure 1 Feather found on 15 February 2023 in the ‘moss-garden”, The British Library St Pancras, London Photo: Andrea Deri

Figure 2 Feather (under side) found on 15 February 2023 in the ‘moss-garden”, The British Library St Pancras, London Photo: Andrea Deri

The feather lay on the moss carpet of the second-floor terrace garden, behind the Barbara Hepworth sculpture and the pergola of the British Library (BL) St. Pancras site under a four-floor high wall [Fig. 3, 4]. The wall may hold the key to the enigmatic feather. [Fig. 5].

Figure 3 Feather in situ, see the yellow dot, found on 15 February 2023 in the ‘moss-garden”, The British Library St Pancras, London. Photo: Andrea Deri

Figure 4 ‘Moss garden’ behind the Barbara Hepworth sculpture and the pergola of the British Library (BL) St. Pancras site under a four-floor high wall, London

Figure 5 High wall above the ‘moss garden’, The British Library St Pancras, London.

The shady moss-garden is one of the least exposed public green areas in the BL [Fig. 6].

Figure 6 ‘Moss-garden’, see the yellow dot, Google map (23 March 2023).

Compared with reliably identified woodcock feathers from a bird found dead in a private garden a couple of years ago, our feather showed striking similarities. But it was just hard to imagine what a woodcock would be doing on the BL Floor Two. Woodcocks are elusive nocturnal woodland birds with a preference for the area between forests and fields [1]

It’s a woodcock!

Having contacted the Angela Marmont Centre for the UK Biodiversity at the Natural History Museum in London (AMC-NHM), the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) https://www.rspb.org.uk/ and experienced London-based naturalists, we got confirmation that the feather indeed belonged to a woodcock (Scolopax rusticola Linnaeus, 1758). [Fig. 7]

Figure 7 Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) with chick in J.A. Naumann 1902 Unsere Schnepfen.

It is an exciting thought that woodcocks might be around the British Library.

In addition to expert knowledge, we also received helpful resources: a reference image of woodcock feathers; link to Featherbase, a website where exhibits of feathers of a range of species can be studied, several blog posts, and recommendation of a book: Tracks and Signs of the Birds of Britain and Europe [2]

But what would a woodcock be doing on the BL Floor Two?

The 18th century Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant started the description of woodcocks in his British Zoology (1776) [3] with discussion of their migration, as if it were their most important feature [Fig. 8, 9, 10]:

“These birds during summer are inhabitants of the Alps, of Norway, Sweden, Polish, Prussia, the march of Brandenburg, and the northern parts of Europe: they all retire from those countries the beginning of winter, as soon as the frost commence; which force them into milder climates, where the ground is open, and adapted to their manner of feeding.“ [3]

Figure 8 Cover of Thomas Pennant 1776 British Zoology

Figure 9 First page of the Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) chapter in Thomas Pennant 1776 British Zoology page 365.

Figure 10 Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) in Thomas Pennant 1776 British Zoology page 364 Plate XV No. 178.

Pennant did not mention woodcocks in London.

Pennant’s book is part of the King’s Library collection in the British Library. The style of binding is called ‘Tree calf’; an acidic mixture is applied to the leather to create the effect.  The coat of arms could have been added at any time – as we learned from Philippa Marks and John Goldfinch, Curators of Bookbinding. Descriptions of the books and pamphlets in the King's Library (shelved in specific shelfmark ranges: 1.a.1 – 304.k.23 and C.1.a.1 – C.16.i.16) appear in Explore the British Library. Most volumes can be ordered into the Rare Books and Music Reading Room using Explore.

Late 19th century bird books, including the ‘London Birds and Beasts’ already made reference to woodcocks in London [4, 5, 6]:

“In the autumn and early winter woodcocks often drop in town [London] sometimes in most extraordinary places, the overhead wires being in many cases, no doubt, accountable for their appearance.” [5]

The 21st century ‘London Bird Atlas’ features high numbers of woodcock observations plotted on a London map [7].

Most woodcocks in London are winter visitors, arriving in Britain and Ireland between October- December from their breeding sites in the north including Scandinavia, Finland and Russia (from as far as Siberia) [8]. The Eurasian woodcocks’ migration routes and timing is explored by Woodcock Watch organised by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust by tagging individual birds.

Migration is a high-risk activity for these birds. In addition to being hunted in large numbers, they can be blown off-course and drowned during storms when crossing the sea. Woodcocks can also starve when they cannot replenish their energy if the soil freezes over and they cannot access their food: worms, soil-dwelling insects [Fig. 11].

Figure 11 Hungry woodcocks (Scolopax rusticola) feeding on earthworms in L. H. De Visme Shaw 1903 Snipe and woodcock. Page 193.

Their feeding habit is captured in the woodcock’s Romanian name: sitar (from the noun sită: colander, sieve). Sitar can be translated as ‘colander maker’. In this case, it refers to the birds making the ground look like a colander, full of holes, as they poke the soil in search of worms – explained Florin Feneru, Identification and Advisory Officer, at the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity, The Natural History Museum.

With the increase of tall buildings in London (and other cities), especially with glass windows that woodcocks might perceive as water bodies and fly directly towards them, the exhausted migrating birds can get disoriented and collide with walls when they fly over at night [9, 10]. Predation poses additional hazards: peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) have been spotted on live web camera attacking woodcocks during the peak migration time, November – December [11].

Scenarios

So, back to the question: How would a woodcock end up in an urban ‘hanging’ garden and disappear with only one broken feather left behind?

Most probably, this was a migrant woodcock, flying over the BL St Pancras site at night. The circumstances of the ill-fated flight are not known but two of several possible scenarios are described here: collision and predation by peregrine.

Collision

The unfortunate woodcock might have collided with the tall wall of the BL [Fig. 5] when it was flying over central London at night on its migration from the breeding sites in the north. After the collision, the bird might have dropped to the moss garden where a fox (Vulpes vulpes) found it, grabbed it, leaving one broken feather behind, then hurried away with its ‘take-away’.

Predation

A peregrine (Falco peregrinus) could have captured the woodcock and torn it apart while sitting on the high wall ledge above the moss garden. One of the broken feathers of the fast feast made its way down to the moss-carpet.

Both foxes and peregrines have been spotted around the BL St Pancras site. The break on the quill could not have happened by the impact of a fallen bird or its feather but more likely by active force.

When did the feather get separated from the bird?

The woodcock feather was found on 15 February 2023. But it is not known when the feather landed in the place where it was found, the time of the woodcock’s demise. As the majority of continental woodcocks leave the UK during late February and early March to breed [10, 12] the woodcock could have perished either in the autumn or an early homebound flight in the spring migration.

The significance of the feather: monitoring urban wildlife for wildlife-inclusive cities

Wildlife monitoring benefits from citizen science, also referred to as community science. The woodcock feather identification engaged both citizen scientists and professional ornithologists. The feather story generated a peer-reviewed observation, uploaded to iRecord, a UK citizen science biodiversity monitoring tool. iRecord feeds into the National Biodiversity Atlas, a source of evidence for decision making about the natural environment. We hope observations like our woodcock feather will ultimately contribute to evidence-based wildlife-inclusive urban development [13]

The collaboration of libraries, museums, conservation charities and citizen scientists presents a so far under-utilised approach to wildlife conservation. The quick and generous response to our feather query from AMC-NHM, RSPB, and London-based naturalists [Fig. 12] shows the professional strengths of UK wildlife monitoring and conservation networks. With growing urban development and increasing complexities of human-wildlife interactions, monitoring urban wildlife is ever more important [14].

Figure 12 Woodcock in Norfolk at night with flash, January 2023. Photo: Henry Wyn-Jones. Published with permission.

Starts with a walk

The British Library’s remarkable collections are widely known. Yet, the wonders of the Library’s wildlife habitats are under-appreciated. They are here to be discovered for their fabulous biodiversity in addition to provide us with beautiful background. It all starts with a curious walk. The walk becomes a journey of discovery. Curiosity connects wildlife, collections, and people.

Written by Andrea Deri and Greg Smith

Acknowledgement
We would like to thank to Florin Feneru, Identification and Advisory Officer, Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity, The Natural History Museum, London; Hein van Grouw, Senior Curator, Bird Group, Dept. of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Tring; India James, Supporter Adviser, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, UK Headquarters The Lodge Sandy; Philippa Marks, Curator, Bookbindings, Western Heritage Collections, The British Library; John Goldfinch, former Curator, Printed Heritage Collections, Western Heritage Collections, The British Library ; Huw Rowlands, Map Processing Coordinator and Cataloguer, India Office Records Map Collection, The British Library; Henry Wyn-Jones, ecologist, ornithologist, wildlife photographer.

References, links and further readings [BL shelfmark]

[1] Davis, J., 2023. European woodcocks have the brightest feathers known to exist. Available at: <https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/march/european-woodcocks-have-the-brightest-feathers-known-to-exist.html>.

[2] Brown, R., Ferguson, J., Lawrence, M. and Lees, D., 2021. Tracks & signs of the birds of Britain & Europe. Helm identification guides. London Oxford New York New Delhi Sydney: Bloomsbury Wildlife. page 511 [ELD.DS.659867]

[3] Pennant, T., 1776. British Zoology. London: Printed for Benj. White. page 365 [40.d.10-13]

[4] Dixon, C., 1909. The bird-life of London. London: Willam Heinemann. [7285.e.29]

[5] Tristram-Valentine, J.T., 1895. London Birds and Beasts. London. page 252 [720e.bb.20]

[6] Swann, H.K., 1893. The birds of London. London. page 103-104 [7285.b.5]

[6] Woodward, I.D., Arnold, R. and Smith, N., 2017. The London bird atlas. [London], Oxford: London Natural History Society?; John Beaufoy Publishing. page 168 [YKL.209.b.1828]

[7] RSPB, 2023. Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola). [online] Available at: <https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/woodcock/>.

[8] RSPB, 2018. Danger low flying woodcock. Available at: <https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/danger-low-flying-woodcock/>.

[9] Hoodless, A.N., Heward, C.J. and Williams, O., 2020. Migration and movements of Woodcocks wintering in Britain and Ireland. British Birds, 113, pp.256–278.

[10] Davies, E. and Hendry, L., 2022. Peregrine falcons are the top birds in town. Available at: <https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/peregrine-falcons-and-their-city-success.html>.

[11] Hoodless, A., 2002. Eurasian Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola). In: C. Wernham, ed. The migration atlas: movements of the birds of Britain and Ireland, Repr. 2008. London: T & A D Poyser. pp.319–322. [(B) GC 32]

[12] Kay, C.A.M., Rohnke, A.T., Sander, H.A., Stankowich, T., Fidino, M., Murray, M.H., Lewis, J.S., Taves, I., Lehrer, E.W., Zellmer, A.J., Schell, C.J. and Magle, S.B., 2022. Barriers to building wildlife-inclusive cities: Insights from the deliberations of urban ecologists, urban planners and landscape designers. People and Nature, [online] 4(1), pp.62–70. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10283.

[13] Gaston, K.J. and Evans, K.L., 2010. Urbanization and development. In: N. Maclean, ed. Silent summer: the state of wildlife in Britain and Ireland. Cambridge?; New York: Cambridge University Press.[YK.2010.a.19902]

Birdwatch Magazine [2092.507500]

Birdwatch Monthly [2092.507800]

Hoodless, A. N., 1994. Aspects of the ecology of the European woodcock (Scolopax rusticola L.) [uk.bl.ethos.385917]

Our current flagship exhibition on our St Pancras site is “Animals: Art, Science and Sound”, covering how the animals sharing our planet with us have been depicted, recorded and investigated by humans. It runs from 21^st April to 28^th August 2023.

Wildlife is widely represented in the British Library’s remarkable collections.

Yet, wildlife living around the British Library often goes unnoticed and unappreciated.

Wild BL, a series of blog posts, will highlight a range of life forms that live and occasionally move around the British Library’s sites in St Pancras, London and Boston Spa, Yorkshire.

The aim of the series is to inspire new approaches to the ways wildlife and people can thrive together in both cities and in the countryside.

Wild BL will feature what’s going on around the British Library at night and during the day in various wildlife habitats and highlight some of the resources about these wild activities in various British Library collections.

The blog posts are authored by British Library members of staff.  Each story reveals where wildlife can be encountered in public areas, so more people can notice and enjoy the presence of various fellow creatures living around the British Library.

Blog readers are encouraged to share their observations in iRecord, a peer-reviewed biodiversity monitoring community-science initiative that connects individual sightings with the National Biodiversity Network. The National Biodiversity Network provides planners and policy makers with evidence for taking biodiversity into consideration in decisions.

By linking wildlife, collections and people, the blog contributes to the British Library’s activities in addressing the biodiversity and climate crises.

Written by Andrea Deri

Our current Gold exhibition explores the use of gold in books and documents around the world. This blogpost looks at gold from a scientific perspective, and why it has the properties that have caused it to be so valued throughout human history.

Gold is probably the first metal to be known to humans. Unlike other metals, which need to be extracted from their ores, gold exists in the environment as the metal itself, from tiny specks up to large nuggets. This is because it rarely reacts with other chemicals, which also explains why it does not tarnish in air like silver or rust like iron. The oldest gold items in the exhibition are two gold plaques, with shelfmarks Or 5340 A and Or 5340 B, with inscribed Buddhist scriptures in Pali. They were discovered buried at the base of a stupa in Maunggan in Myanmar and are dated to the 5th or 6th centuries CE.

The Buddhist gold plaques

Because of its lack of corrosion, gold has been seen as mystically special, and used for objects of high prestige and to make coins. One notable object in our exhibition is the treaty between the rulers of the Indian city of Calicut (now Kozhikode) and the Dutch, which was inscribed into a two-metre-long strip of gold. Gold was used to symbolise the importance of the treaty but also for practical reasons, as a material that would not rot or decay in a tropical climate.

The reason why gold is so unreactive is because of the number of electrons in each atom. This is the same as the number of protons, and it is this which decides which element an atom is. Within atoms, electrons are arranged in layers called "shells", and gold is particularly unreactive as its outermost shell is full of electrons, which is a particularly stable state for an atom.

Unlike some atoms with full outermost shells, like helium and neon, gold can react with some other chemicals. This is because gold can lose one to three electrons if the reaction can release enough energy to strip them off - called "oxidation", and it can also share electrons with other atoms, without giving up any of its own.

The first material to be discovered by medieval alchemists which can react with gold is the famous aqua regia, Latin for "king's water". Despite the appetising-sounding name, this is very dangerous and you should not try this at home - it is a very corrosive mixture of concentrated hydrochloric acid and nitric acid in water. Because of the hydrochloric acid, the mixture contains chloride ions, which are chlorine atoms which have received an extra electron from the hydrogen atoms in the water. The chloride atoms can share their electrons with the gold atoms to create what are called complexes, and this makes it easier for the nitric acid, which is an oxidising agent, to strip electrons away from the gold atoms, creating gold chlorides which dissolve in the water. Gold compounds do have some uses, such as treating arthritis and in some kinds of traditional silver-based photography.
Fortunately aqua regia doesn't occur naturally, so our gold exhibits are perfectly safe.

Our Gold exhibition is open from Friday 20th May 20 Sunday 2nd October 2022, and you can book tickets online to visit.

Supported by:

The exhibition is supported by the Goldhammer Foundation and the American Trust for the British Library, with thanks to The John S Cohen Foundation, The Finnis Scott Foundation, the Owen Family Trust and all supporters who wish to remain anonymous.