also 8 abadavine, aberdavine. [Etym. unascertained.] A bird-fanciers’ name of the siskin (Carduelis spinus), a small bird, closely related to the goldfinch.
1735. Albin, Nat. Hist. Birds, Suppl., Plate 76. The Abadavine; p. 71 text (dated 1740) The Aberduvine.
1768. Pennant, Brit. Zool., II. 310. It [the siskin] is to be met with in the bird shops in London, and … sells at a higher price than the merit of its song deserves: it is known there by the name of the Aberdavine.
1846. W. C. L. Martin, Our Song Birds, 148–9. The siskin or Aberdevine…. This pretty little bird can be scarcely considered as a native of the British islands; but it visits us during the winter.
