XANTHOMELUS AUREUS (J 
Golden Bird of Paradise. 
Golden Bird of Paradise, Edwards, Nat. Hist. Birds, iii. p. 112, pi. 112 (1750). — Lath. Gen. Syn. i. pt. 2, 
p. 483 (1782). 
Oriolus aureus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 103 (1700).— Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 394 (1788).— Yieill. N. D. d’Hist. Nat. 
xviii. p. 194 (1817).— Temm. PI. Col. ii. Genre Loriot (1825).— Wagl. Syst. Av., Oriolus sp. (1827).— 
Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 232 (1845). — Id. Cat. B. New Guin. p. 57 (1859). — Id. IIand-1. B. i. p. 293, 
no. 4332 (1809). — Rosenb. Reist. naar Geelvinkb. p. 117 (1875). — Musschenbr. Dagboek, pp. 209, 236 
(1883). — Rosenb. Mitth. orn. Ver. Wien, 1885, p. 54. 
Le Rollier de Paradis, Montb. Hist. Nat. Ois. iii. p. 149 (1775). 
Paradisea aurea, Borowsk. Nat. ii. p. 122 (1780-84).— Lath. Ind. Orn. i. p. 197 (1790).— Cuv. Rbgn. An. i. 
p. 405 (1817). — Swains. Zool. Journ. i. p. 472, note (1825). — Schleg. J. f. O. 1861, p. 386. 
Le Paradis orange, Yieill. Ois. Dor. ii. Ois. Pai’ad. p. 26, pis. 11, 12 (1802). 
Le Loriot de Paradis, Leyaill. Ois. de Parad. i. pis. 18, 19 (1806). 
Paradisea aurantia, Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii. p. 499, pi. 68 (1809). 
Lophorina aurantia, Steph. Gen. Zool. xiv. p. 76 (1826). 
Sericulus aureus, Less. Man. d’Orn. i. p. 396 (1828).— Bp. Consp. Av. i. p. 349 (1850).— Gray, P. Z. S. 1858, 
p. 192, 1861, p. 434.— Wall. Ibis, 1861, p. 287.— Id. P. Z. S. 1862, pp. 154, 157, 159, 160.— Rosenb. 
Nat. Tijdschr. Ned. Ind. xxv. p. 234 (1863).— Id. J. f. O. 1864, p. 120.— Finsch, Neu-Guinea, p. 173 
(] 865).— Schleg. Mus. P.-B., Coraces, p. 98 (1867).— Wall. Malay Ar chip. ii. pp. 419, 420 (1869).— 
Beccari, Ann. Mus. Genov, vii. p. 709 (1875).— D’Albertis, t. c. p. 798.— Scl. Ibis, 1876, p. 248.— 
Rosenb. Malay. Archip. p. 554 (1879). 
Oriolus aurantiacus, Dumont, Diet. Class. Sc. Nat. xxvii. p. 215. 
Loriot de Paradis orange, Less. Yoy. Coq., Zool. i. pt. 2, p. 654 (1828). 
Sericulus aurantiacus. Less. Tr. d’Orn. p. 339 (1831).— Id. Ois. Parad. Syn. p. 20, et Nat. Hist. p. 201, pi. 25 
(1835).— Id. Compl. de Buff., Ois. p. 497 (1838). 
Xanthomelus aureus, Bp. Compt. Rend, xxxviii. pp. 262, 538 (1854).— Scl. Journ. Pr. Linn. Soc. ii. p. 159 (1858).— 
Elliot, Ibis, 1872, p. 112. — Id. Monogr. Parad. pi. xv. (1 873). — Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov, vii. p. 783 
(1875), ix. p. 192 (1876). — Id. Atti R. Ac. Sc. Tor. xi. p. 688 (1876). — Id. Ibis, 1876, p. 267. — 
Beccari, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov, ix. p. 385 (1877). — Salvad.op. cit. x. p. 14(note),p. 152 (1877). — Sharpe, 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. iii. p. 186 (1877). — Gould, B. New Guin. i. pi. 48 (1878). — D’Alb. Nuova Guin. 
pp. 28, 80, 83, 582 (1880). — Eudes-Deslongch. Ann. Mus. d’Hist. Nat. Caen, i. p. 39 (1880). — Salvad. 
Orn. Papuasia, ii. p. 568 (1881). — Guillem. P. Z. S. 1885, p. 657. — D’Hamonv. Bull. Soc. Zool. Fr. 1886, 
pp. 508, 511. — Salvad. Agg. Orn. Papuasia, ii. p. 164 (1890). 
Oriolus xanthogaster, Rosenb. in litt, (1871). — Id. Reist. naar Geelvinkb. pp. 117, 139 (1875). — Id. Mitth. orn. 
Yer. Wien, 1885, p. 54. 
Sericulus xanthogaster, Schleg. Ned. Tijdschr. Dierk. iv. p. 50 (1871, ex Rosenb.). — Rosenb. Reist. naar 
Geelvinkb. p. 102 (1875). — Salvad. Atti R. Ac. Sc. Tor. xi. p. 688 (1876). — Id. Ibis, 1876, p. 267. — 
Rosenb. Malay. Archip. pp. 554, 590 (1879). 
Clilamydodera xanthogastra, Elliot, Ibis, 1872, p. 113. — Id. Monogr. Parad. pi. 33 (1873). — Scl. P. Z. S. 1873 
p. 697. 
The line of demarcation between the Birds of Paradise and the Bower-birds has never been easy of definition, 
and some naturalists, like Mr. D. G. Elliot and Count Salvadori, have united the two families together. As 
the nesting-habits and bower-building propensities of the two groups are gradually being discovered, it would 
seem that many of the species hitherto considered to be true Birds of Paradise are also the frequenters of 
“ playing-grounds,” after the manner of the Bower-birds. 
The present species has generally been placed at the end of the series of Birds of Paradise, as being 
apparently the nearest ally of the Bower-birds of the genus Amblyornis, and the coloration of the females and 
young birds so closely resembles that of a Bower-bird that there is nothing remarkable in the fact that, when 
they were first discovered by Baron von Rosenberg, they were described by Professor Schlegel as Sericulus 
xanthogaster and afterwards placed by Mr. Elliot in the genus Clilamydodera. 
The nesting-habits of the Golden Bird of Paradise are not yet exactly known. Dr. Beccari was 
informed by the natives that it nested on the ground, but he was not able to discover whether it made a 
