chaffien.
/ˈtʃafi/, U.S. /ˈtʃæfi/, Scottish English /ˈtʃafɪ/ Chiefly Scottish.
(A pet name for) a chaffinch ( Fringilla coelebs).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > family Fringillidae (finch) > [noun] > subfamily Fringillinae > fringilla coelebs (chaffinch)
spinkc1425
chaffinchc1440
sheld-apple1544
shilfa1684
guinet1725
wheat-bird1747
piefinch1779
scobby1800
beech-finch1815
pink1816
twink1816
whitewing1854
spinkie1911
?1832 C. Hall Sisters 69 Poor little chaffy lived to reward the care of its nurses..; and chaffy's drooping wing long remained a memento of Charles's inhumanity.
1887 W. A. Smith Loch Creran 279 Unlike the chaffies, they [sc. bullfinches] are restlessly active.
1904 J. Fullerton Poems 59 The chaffie, yite, the merle, and chat, I lo'e them ilka ane.
1957 N. B. Morrison Other Traveller viii. 179 He would tell Dick what had been in the queue that day, tom-tits, robins, chaffies, sparrows, even a wicked-looking corbie.
2000 Herald (Glasgow) 8 May 19 The Farmer continued his interest and noted the wrens, the green linties and the chaffies which competed with blackbirds for the airwaves and for the nesting sites.
2022 @south_birder 21 Mar. in twitter.com (accessed 4 Apr. 2022) Crossbills in trees at entrance [to Llyn Brenig], with Siskins. Redpoll around feeders; unexpected Brambling posing above a Chaffie.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2022).
<
n.?1832