About the size of the magpie robin, but with shorter tail.Sexes similar. It is a soberly coloured bird, brown with a darker brown cap, and the face, superclilium and all underparts pale rusty.
 

A shy jungle-loving bird, it lives in pairs. The nest is a domed, outwardly untidy structure composed of dead leaves, skeleton leaves, dry grass, etc., placed on the ground among the same kind of objects, among the same kind of objects, among which it is practically impossible to distinguish unless, and until, the bird flies off at one's feet. It is often situated at the base of a tree or shrub and is always in deep forest. The two eggs are broad ovals, white or off-white and thickly speckled with some shade of brown. They measure about 22.2 X 16.2 mm.