Medium-sized chunky greenbul with a broken pale eye-ring. The birds along the Albertine Rift and in central Kenya have a gray cap, a softly striped cheek, and olive-green underparts. Those in northern Tanzania and southern Kenya have a black cap, a less distinctly striped cheek, and gray underparts. Common and conspicuous in montane forest. The song is a short series of barking and mewing notes. Similar to Stripe-cheeked Greenbul, but separated by the dark eye, the less distinct cheek striping, and the lack of an olive-green crown.