Kagu name "Rhynochetos", and the clade name Rhynochetidae, are derived from the Greek "rhis" meaning nose and "chetos" meaning corn, referring to the corn-shaped flaps over the nostrils. The specific name "jubatus" is derived from the Latin "iabatus" meaning crested. The name kagu is derived from the Melanesian names for the species. The species is variously known as the "kavu" or "kagou" in the Kanak languages, and as the "cagou" in French (also used as an alternative spelling in English). The kagu is a ground-living bird, in length. The weight can vary considerably by individual and by season, ranging from .
Legendary creature historian Richard Kieckhefer explains, "Magic is not meant to work but to express wishes, or to encode in symbols a perception of how things do or should work." Legendary creature A legendary, mythical, or mythological creature, traditionally called a fabulous beast or fabulous creature, is a fictitious, imaginary and often supernatural animal, often a hybrid, sometimes part human, whose existence has not or cannot be proved and that is described in folklore or fiction but also in historical accounts before history became a science. In the classical era, monstrous creatures such as the cyclops and the Minotaur appear in heroic