Another version for Ada's Latin name for "Peterson's
grouse." ( 'Might I have another helping of Peterson's Grouse, Tetrastes
bonasia windriverensis?' asked Ada loftily.) also occurred to me, after I
stopped to consider Darkbloom's warning about an "imaginary 'Peterson's
Grouse' from Wind River Range, Wyo."
I set out to
explore the American "Bonasa umbellus" and the "Sage-grouse" at Winds, Wyo.,
which could have been blended together with the Old World "Hazel grouse,"
or "Tetrastes bonasia", by Ada. My taxonomic ignorance and impatience
only enabled me to wander that far, ie, to
Ada's "Amerussia."
In
relation to Peterson, it occurred to me that Peter, Peterson, Pierre are
variants of the name "Pierrot."
This
commedia dell arte character is famous for his ruffle, a
white torquated collar. Perhaps Nabokov was, among other things,
playing with "ruffed grouse" of rufous color and the "ruffled"
collar that is found in a pheasant's neck and in the classic
Pierrot's?