Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CORN'CRAKE, n.

The crake or land-rail; the corn-crow, for kråka, in Sw., and krage in Dan., is our word crow, and the name is probably taken from its cry. The Dutch kraai, a crow, is contracted from kraag, and kraaijen is to crow, to vaunt, to tell tales; G. krähe, krähen.