Do you want feathers with that?

[MKIRKALDY@aol.com]

The following is from the eNature News.  Think _Suchomimus_.

    Subj:    On the Wild Side
    Date:   7/25/00 7:37:13 PM Eastern Daylight Time
    From:   news@list.enature.com (eNature News)
    Sender: news@list.enature.com
    To: news@list.enature.com (eNature News)

    - Feather Appetizers --

    People who've been humbled, it's said, eat their words. By the 
    same token, certain birds eat their own feathers, though not 
    because they've suffered a defeat. Rather, these birds consume 
    feathers in order to survive.

    The birds in question are grebes, aquatic birds with a diet that 
    consists of insects, crustaceans, and sometimes fish. But fish-
    eating grebes like the Horned Grebe and the Red-necked Grebe 
    can't readily digest the bones inside fish. That's why they pluck
    and eat large quantities of their own feathers. The feathers create 
    a filter of sorts within the grebe that traps the bones in the bird's 
    stomach before they can enter the intestine. Thus trapped, the 
    bones slowly dissolve until they can more easily be passed.

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Mary
mkirkaldy@aol.com