Today's word suggests a couple of bits of trivia. I remember a long time ago reading about Oriental fishermen using cormorants to catch fish, with rings around their necks to keep them from swallowing the fish. A few months ago there was a story on CNN about the catfish farms in Louisiana and Mississippi having cormorants take as much as three thousand dollars worth per night of the catfish. Because the cormorants were regarded as an endangerd species, shooting them was illegal until just recently. Then I saw another story about a robot with a red laser that was said to be effective in driving the cormorants away. The story did not say if the robot was on land or in the water. And I wonder how long it will be before the cormorants learn that the robot cannot harm them.

This was in a poetry anthology I had as a child:

The common cormorant, or shag,
Lays eggs inside a paper bag.
The reason, you will see no doubt,
It is to keep the lightning out.
But what the unobservant birds
Have never noticed is that herds
Of wandering bears may come with buns,
And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.

The anthologist, Louis Untermeyer, was apparently ignorant of the word "cormorant", and so introduced the poem by explaining that a cormorant was a fantasy bird invented by the poet.

Reminds me of the child's book, The Story About Ping (great book!).
Side note: Computer gurus, look up this book on Amazon.com and check out the reviews. When I looked, the one I am referring to was the second one down, under "Spotlight Reviews."

[quote] Reminds me of the child's book, The Story About Ping (great book!).
quote]

A classic! Can't think how many times I've read it out loud, first to younger siblings, then to nieces and nephews.
I never memorized it, though of course the kids did, and would immediately spot any improvising or mistakes.

Yeah, I used to read it all the time as a little kid. It's one of those that will surely bring up intense nostalgia when I see it again.