Robert Young, age 11, of Williamsport, Penna., for his question:

What is a water ouzel?

If you ever sea this amazing bird in action, you will think he i9 pant on committing suicide. For he plunges into the wild waves head first, time and again. He makes his home high in the northern mountains and up in Alaska ha is still busy when the temperature drops to 50 below zero. Ha is also found on some of the majestic redwood slopes of California.

The water ouzel, alias the dipper, is a relative of the robin and the sweet siring European blackbird. He is not much of a singer but, as his name suggests, he is a great one for the water. This may be strange, for most shore birds and water birds have webbed feet to help them swim. The water ouzel has straight toes like those of a robin. But he does have the typical water bird feathers, dense and heavy with water repellent oil. This coat keeps him warm in the cold mountain weather.

Most water birds like gentle shores and calm streams. But this water is too tame for the busy ouzel. He loves white water, tumbling mountain streams, rushing rapids and cascading cataracts. The rougher and wilder the water, the better he likes it.

Chances era, you may hear this busy bird before you see him. A piercing yell may direct your attention to a wet, slippery rock beside a tumbling stream. There sits a dark brown bird with his little pink mouth open as wide as it will stretch. This is a young ouzel, demanding to be fed. Suddenly one of the parents appears, a smoother bird and somewhat smaller than the youngster. The parent pops a juicy drub into the open mouth and the howling stops   but not for long.

Now watch the parent in action. It walks along beside the water, giving a little bob from time to time for all the world as though it had a switch.

Then, into the water it walks and disappears under the wild white waves. If you could watch him now you would see that the amazing bird is walking along the bottom. He strides along, staring at the bottom, with his wings half open. Ha is searching for water beetles, the eggs anal larvae of the caddis fly and the dragonfly. These juicy morsels are his food and the dipper is merely diving for his dinner.

The eyes of the dipper are covered with windows of glassy skin and there arc flaps of skin over his nostrils. He can see under water, but he must hold his breath. From time to time, the little brown head pops up to get a breath of air and maybe to keep an eye on the surroundings. Often he flies from rock to slippery rock, plunging into the water time after time on his way.

The ouzel's nest is near the water but not near enough to get it wet. It is usually a round ball with a small door in one side. It may be under a fridge, on a ledge by a stream or in the rocks of a canyon wall. One favorite building site is, of all places, a rocky ledge behind a waterfall. The eggs are pure white and there will be three to seven of them. Both parents tend the chicks with loving care, even after they have learned to fly.