The first known descriptions of the bird were made by the Dutch.
They called the Mauritius bird the walghvogel ("wallow bird" or
"loathsome bird") in reference to its taste. Although many later
writings say that the meat tasted bad, the early journals only
say that the meat was tough but good, though not as good as the
abundantly available pigeons. The name walgvogel was used for
the first time in the journal of vice-admiral Wybrand van Warwijck
who visited the island in 1598 and named it Mauritius.
Source:
Wikipedia