Sentence:  Big fellows they were, all of them, their barbaric headdresses and grotesquely painted faces, together with their many metal ornaments and gorgeously coloured <WSD>feathers</WSD>, adding to their wild, fierce appearance. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display.