Attribution!

The common cormorant, or shag,
Lays eggs inside a paper bag;
The reason, you will see, no doubt,
Is to keep the lightning out.
But what these unobservant birds
Have failed to notice is that herds
Of bears may come with buns
And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.
-- UNIX Fortune Cookie

The common cormorant (or shag)
Lays eggs inside a paper bag,
You follow the idea, no doubt?
It's to keep the lightning out.

But what these unobservant birds
Have never thought of, is that herds
Of wandering bears might come with buns
And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.
-- Christopher Isherwood, Exhumations (1966) "Common Cormorant"

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To which I say, thank God! I was afraid I'd accidentally written this viral ditty myself, about twenty years ago. Isherwood can have all the blame for this one!