This grassbird is restricted to the mountains of Bougainville. The account places it in mossy ridge forest, where it spends much of its time near the ground.
It is 17–19 cm long. The upperparts are dark olive-brown, with a small black mask and blackish lesser coverts and tail. The supercilium, chin, and upper breast are reddish cinnamon.
It stays near the ground under dense ferns in mossy ridge forest with bamboo; its diet is unknown. The account describes a cup nest in a niche on a streamside rock wall, about 2 m above ground.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.