Small, distinctive cuckoo, with grey head and upper body, and unbarred grey breast and belly; white vent and white-barred undertail coverts; hepatic female  and immature similar to Plaintive, but brighter rufous; lack supercilium and barred tail of Banded Bay; lighter barring on crown and nape; cross-barred back,
narrow-barred white underparts; mostly solitary; as with Plaintive, mainly arboreal, keeping to treetops and restlessly changing perches while singing; may descend to ground in pursuit of insects.