Dipper
a genus of birds in the thrush family (Turdidæ), distinguished by an almost straight, compressed sharppointed bill, by the possession of a nostril valve, and still more by their peculiar manners and habits. They frequent clear, pebbly streams and lakes, feeding chiefly on mollusks and equatic insects and their larvæ. The dipper carries its rather short tail elevated after the manner of wrens, which it also resembles in the dipping of the head.