This small ground-dwelling bird lives in grassy eucalypt communities of south-eastern Australia. Its grey-brown plumage is finely streaked, and it searches for seeds and insects around tussocks.
It is about 13 cm long. The back, wings and tail are grey-brown with dark streaks; the black crown has pale streaks, and the pale underparts are heavily marked. Males have a black upper brow edge; females have a rufous one.
It uses eucalypt communities with grassy understoreys, often on rocky ridges or in gullies, and searches on the ground around tussocks and shrubs for seeds and insects. Pairs are sedentary and hold breeding territories of about ten hectares.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.