The south side of this room (right on entering) is chiefly reserved for the remains of extinct Birds, including the famous Lizard-tailed Bird (_Archæopteryx_) of the Solenhofen beds of Bavaria (fig. 48), the oldest known member of the class. Although presenting many Reptile-like characters, it had well-developed feathers on the wings and tail, the impressions of which are beautifully preserved in the specimen. A series of skeletons of the “Moas,” or _Dinornithidæ_, of New Zealand, birds in which no trace of a wing has been discovered, shows the diversity in size of different members of the group, some far exceeding any existing Ostrich, while others are scarcely larger than a good-sized Turkey. Some of these remains are so recent as still to be covered with dried skin, and even feathers. Several eggs are also shown; but, large as these are, they are greatly exceeded in size by those of the Roc (_Æpyornis_) from Madagascar. The skull and certain other remains of a gigantic extinct bird, _Phororhachos_, from Patagonia are also shown in this room. These birds appear to have been allied to the existing South American Seriema. [Illustration: FIG. 48.--SKELETON AND IMPRESSIONS OF THE FEATURES OF THE LIZARD-TAILED BIRD (_Archæopteryx macrura_), FROM THE UPPER JURASSIC (LITHOGRAPHIC STONE) OF SOLENHOFEN, BAVARIA. About ¼th natural size. ] [Illustration: FIG. 49.--SKELETON OF THE IGUANODON (_Iguanodon bernissartensis_), a Biped Dinosaur from the Wealden of Belgium. About 1/80th natural size.] [Sidenote: Extinct Reptiles.] The long corridor north of the fossil Mammal-gallery contains a fine assemblage of Reptilian remains. The south side is devoted to the Great Sea-Lizards (Sauropterygia and Ichthyopterygia), mostly from the Lias formation. The skeleton of an Ichthyosaur from the Lias is shown in fig. 50. Skeletons of Plesiosaurians and Pliosaurians from the Oxford Clay are mounted in central cases. Ranged in the cases on the north side are remains of the gigantic Dinosaurs, which vastly exceeded in size any other land-animals. A mounted plaster cast of a complete skeleton of the Iguanodon (fig. 49), found (with many others) in the Wealden strata at Bernissart in Belgium, is exhibited in the gallery of recent Reptiles; but a large series of bones of the same reptile is shown here. [Illustration: FIG. 50.--SKELETON OF AN ICHTHYOSAUR (_Ichthyosaurus tenuirostris_). From the Lias of Somersetshire. About 1/10th natural size.]