The rectrices are usually twelve; though _Rhynchaea_ and the Parridae have ten, while _Scolopax stenura_ and _S. megala_ possess twenty and twenty-six respectively, the outer of which are exceedingly stiff and narrow–not to give further instances. The tail in _Glareola_ is deeply furcate and Swallow-like, in _Hydrophasianus_ it has the four median plumes very long and decurved in the breeding season; but it is often quite short, as in _Scolopax_. The form may be slightly forked, as in _Chionis_; somewhat graduated or cuneate, as in the Thinocorythidae, _Totanus hypoleucus_, and _Oedicnemus_; rounded, as in _Cursorius_; or almost even, as in _Vanellus_. The tongue is rather long and pointed, being, however, rudimentary in _Numenius_; the nostrils are pervious, except in the Thinocorythidae, Glareolidae, and perhaps _Dromas_, and have at times a leathery operculum in Plovers; the syrinx is tracheo-bronchial, the furcula U-shaped; _Parra_ has a decidedly muscular gizzard, and the Thinocorythidae possess a globular crop. The convoluted trachea of _Rhynchaea_, the papillae on the orbits of _Chionis_, the caruncles on the face of _Machetes_, and the loral wattles of _Lobivanellus_ are fully described below. The aftershaft is very small in the Parridae, rather large elsewhere. In adults the down is sparing; in the young it is short, thick, and commonly of a yellowish hue, with brown longitudinal stripes; though it may be grey, as in _Chionis_ and _Haematopus_; mottled with reddish and white, as in Snipes; or with black, orange, yellow, and white, as in Phalaropes. The plumage is usually plain brown or grey, with an admixture of white, or less commonly chestnut; _Vanellus_, _Lobivanellus_, and _Cursorius chalcopterus_, however, exhibit metallic hues, and _Chionis_ is white. Red or yellow beaks or feet adorn many forms. Crests occur in certain species of _Vanellus_, _Hoplopterus_, and _Lobivanellus_; the male of _Machetes_ (Ruff) is most remarkable for its lateral head-tufts and fine neck-frill, developed for the breeding season; _Numenius tahitiensis_ has peculiar bristly-pointed flank-feathers. In _Scolopax_ the large eyes are set unusually far back in the skull. The sexes are generally similar, but in _Eudromias_,[185] _Phalaropus_, and _Rhynchaea_ the female is brighter than {271}the male, as well as larger, the latter fact holding true of a considerable number of the Tringinae and Scolopacinae, and of the Parridae, though a special study of the subject is still needful. In several species the breeding plumage differs remarkably from that of winter.