Chunky, thickset brown babbler with a dark crown, an orange breast, and a bright white throat. North Bornean subspecies has a dark face and thin white eyebrows, absent elsewhere. Scurries about on the forest floor like a rodent, rummaging through leaf litter, either singly or in pairs. Found in lowland and foothill forests. Gives a high, piercing “tse-lee” somewhat akin to nails scratching across a blackboard.