The water ouzel is a European bird of the thrush family, generally of a dark-brown color, with throat and upper part of the breast pure white. It frequents clear, pebbly streams and lakes, feeding chiefly on mollusks, and on aquatic insects and their larvae, which it seeks even under water, diving with great facility, and moving about for a short time at the bottom of the stream. It carries its rather short tail elevated after the manner of wrens, which it also resembles in its frequent becks, or dipping of the head, accompanied with an upward jerking of the tail.
