The favoured name for this species among naturalists have changed over the years , with " landrail " and variants of " corncrake " being preferred at various times . " Crake gallinule " also had a period of popularity between 1768 and 1813 . The originally Older Scots " cornecrake " was popularised by Thomas Bewick , who used this term in his 1797 A History of British Birds . Other Scots names include " corn scrack " and " quailzie " ; the latter term , like " king of the quail " , " grass quail " , the French " roi de caille " , and the German " Wachtelkönig " refer to the association with the small gamebird . Another name , " daker " , have been variously interpreted as onomatopoeic , or derived from the Old Norse ager @-@ hoene , meaning " cock of the field " ; variants include " drake " , " drake Hen " and " gorse drake " .