hawfinch
(ˈhɔːfɪnʃ)
[f. haw n.2 + finch.]
The common grosbeak, Coccothraustes vulgaris, a bird about six inches in length, having a large strong beak adapted for breaking the hard seeds and kernels which form its food.
| 1674 Ray Collect. Words, Birds 88. 1759 B. Stillingfl. tr. Biberg's Econ. Nat. in Misc. Tracts (1762) 66 The cross-bill that lives on the fir-cones, and the hawfinch that feeds on the pine-cones. 1881 Standard 2 Mar. 5 The hawfinch some years ago was as common in Epping Forest as are pigeons in the Guildhall-yard. |