DIPHYLLODES CHRYSOPTERA, Elliot . 
Golden-winged Bird of Paradise. 
Diphyllodes speciosa, pt., Schl. Nederl. Tijdschr. Dierk. iv. pp. 17, 50 (1871). — Rosenb. Reist. naar Geelvinkb. 
p. 56 (1875). — Id. Malay. Arch. p. 557 (1879).— Id. Mitth. orn. Yer. Wien, 1885, p. 31. 
Diphyllodes chrysoptera, Gould, MSS. 
Diphyllodes speciosus, var. chrysopterus, Elliot, Monogr. Farad, pi. 13 (1873, ex Gould). 
Diphyllodes chrysoptera, Meyer, Mitth. Zool. Mus. Dresden, i. p. 6, note (1875). — Beccari, Ann. Mus. Genov, vii. 
p. 710 (1875). — Salvad. t. c. p. 971 (1875). — Id. op. cit. ix. p. 192 (1876).— Gould, B. New Guinea, i. 
pi. 23 (1876).— Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. iii. p. 175 (1877).- — Eudes-Deslongch. Ann. Mus. Caen, i. 
p. 33 (1880). — Salvad. Orn. Papuasia, ii. p. 641 (1882). — Guillem. P. Z. S. 1885, p. 654. — Sharpe, Bull. 
B. 0. C. iv. p. iii (1894). 
Paradlsea chrysoptera, Musschenbr. Dagboek, pp. 190, 222 (1883). 
Diphyllodes jobiensis, Meyer, Zeitschr. ges. Orn. ii. p. 388 (1885). — Id. Ibis, 1886, p. 256. — D’Hamonv. Bull. 
Soc. Zool, France, 1886, p. 510.— Salvad. Agg. Orn. Papuasia, ii. p. 161 (1890). — Meyer, J. f. O. 1892, 
p. 262 . 
This species was described from two skins, of native preparation, in the collection of the late Mr. Gould. No 
clue to their exact habitat was received with them, and Mr. Elliot described them as a new species, using 
Mr. Gould’s MSS. name of D , chrysoptera. Since that time the utmost confusion has prevailed with regard 
to this species, and to this result, in common with other ornithologists, I have myself contributed. 
The presence of a golden wing in specimens of Diphyllodes from South-eastern New Guinea led me to 
believe that, in the examples from the south-eastern part of that great island was found a form of 
Diphyllodes identical with the skins in the Gould collection, and I therefore identified specimens from the 
Astrolabe Range as D. chrysoptera. This proves to have been a mistake, and I have now not the least 
doubt that the typical specimens came from the island of Jobi, as they agree absolutely with a specimen in 
the collection of the Hon. Walter Rothschild, obtained on that island by Dr. Guillemard. In this conclusion 
I am supported by Count Salvador - !, wbo examined with me the specimens in the Rothschild collection. 
The chief characters of D. chrysoptera , as distinguished from D. speciosa, are the golden wing and the 
deep crimson colour of the mantle, which is of so deep a crimson as to be almost blackish or deep claret-colour. 
The bird from South-eastern New Guinea possesses the golden wing, but has the mantle of a much more fiery 
hue, so that it is a very conspicuous feature in the species. Specimens from the Finisterre Mountains and 
from Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land may, and doubtless do, belong to a slightly intermediate race, but the dark- 
mantled Jobi race is the true D. chrysoptera. Of this fact, the comparison of the types with the Jobi specimen 
in the Rothschild collection leaves no matter of a doubt. 
Dr. Meyer described bis D. jobiensis as having bronzy reflexions on the abdomen. This is a character 
which I believe to be due to the abrasion of the plumage, or, in many cases, to the method of drying the 
skins by native hunters. In a series of skins of Diphyllodes recently examined by me this bronzy coloration 
was very apparent in many individuals, and without doubt was due to the way in which the skins had been 
dried by artificial heat, or by exposure to damp. The fine specimen obtained by Dr. Guillemard shows that 
in perfectly preserved skins this bronzy shade is entirely absent. 
D. chrysoptera may therefore be described as similar to D. magnifica, but distinguished by the golden 
wing. Total length tr8 inches, culmen 0*8, wing 4*4, tail L55, tarsus 1*3. 
The above measurements have been taken from Dr. Guillemard’s Jobi specimen in the Rothschild 
Museum. 
The Plate represents a male in two positions, drawn from the original types of D. chrysoptera. 
