At 09:01 PM 10/28/97 -0800, you wrote:
>Hi Tweets,
>
>Chris Maack writes:
>>Can one use the term indigenous for birds
>>that breed in one region and winter in another?
>
>Oh, boy, let slip the dogs of pedantry!
>
>Of 'indigenous', the Oxford Concise definition says, some paraphrased:
>
>indigenous [adj] (Esp. of flora and fauna) produced naturally in a region;
>belonging naturally (to soil etc.; or fig[uratively]; from Latin 'indigena',
>'inde-'--in, plus 'gen-' --born.
>
>Strictly interpreted, it's a regionally rather than environmentally
>descriptive term, applying to a resident's or migrant's geographic breeding
>region (i.e.-- place of birth) only; 'Alaska-race Common Eiders are
>indigenous to western Alaska.', and would not apply to any region in which
>it did not breed. Much less successfully, one could apply it also to
>breeding habitat-type, so: 'Common Eiders are indigenous to tundra.', though
>'Common Eiders nest (typically) on tundra.' would be preferable.
>
>M. Roget gives as synonyms: native; innate, inborn, inherent, natural (to).
>
>Donald Borror's neat little book, Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining
>Forms, has very interesting alternatives for the root word 'indigen':
>Native; need, want. A possible connection was the Roman habit of thinking of
>its subject peoples as being at a fundamentally structural disadvantage if
>they lacked Roman manners and customs, technologies and culture: a native
>would be, by Roman definition, born into a state of want (indigence) just by
>being born non-Roman.
>
>The Brothers Fowler (Modern English Usage) found no ground for comment on
>this particular word, but offered so many interesting, if unconnected,
>side-tracks that this post is going out at least an hour and a half later
>than its beginning.
>
>Michael Price We aren't flying...we're falling with style!
>Vancouver BC Canada -Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story
>mprice at mindlink.net
>
>

You quote Oxford and I'll quote "The Cambridge Illustrated Dictionary of
Natural History" (which school did Clinton go to? "Honest, I never opened
the book.") says, 'Native to a particular area; used of an organism or
species occurring naturally in an environment or region."

Bob
Federal Way, WA
taylorrt at geocities.com