rockiern.
/ˈrɒkɪə/, U.S. /ˈrɑkiər/ English regional (southern). Now rare.
The rock dove, Columba livia, or (from confusion) the stock dove, C. oenas. Cf. rocker n.2
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the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [noun] > family Columbidae > genus Columba > columba livia (rock-dove)
rock dove1610
rock pigeon1611
sea-pigeon1620
blue pigeon1676
rockier1780
rocker1802
biset1834
rock1854
sod1885
tin-rock1892
1780 G. White Let. 30 Nov. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 112 There were among them little parties of small blue doves, which he calls rockiers.
1859 J. C. Atkinson Walks & Talks Two Schoolboys (1892) 350 The first proved to be only a domestic pigeon. The other, however, was a genuine wild rockier.
1895 C. Dixon Game Birds & Wild Fowl Brit. Islands 7 The Stock Dove..is also widely confused with the Rock Dove... To many sportsmen it is known by the name of ‘Rockier’.
1903 Zoologist 7 449 Rock-Dove (C. livia).—‘Rockier’. Is occasionally shot in the winter months.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1780