Sexes alike. Chocolate brown above; olivish-yellow, pointed tail; white bars on rump; chestnut sides of face, chin and throat; white below, thickly speckled with very dark brown on breast, flanks and part of belly (speckles may be absent during winter and much of summer). Sociable, moving in flocks of six to several dozen birds, often with other munias and weaver birds; feeds on ground and low bushes, but rests in trees.