Slightly smaller than a domestic chicken, but longer bodied and reddish in color. Females have more barring on the upperparts than males. It is a bird of dry and moist forests as well as well-wooded villages. Males have a distinctive, rapidly repeated “k-r-r-r-kwek, kr-kr-kwek, kr-kr-kwek” call, often delivered in the mornings and evenings. When flushed males and females give a harsh, cackling “kuk-kuk-kuk-kukaak.” Forages in the undergrowth and is generally secretive, but often seen crossing roads or walking down paths in pairs or small groups. Birds from northern India are more buffish-gray while birds of southern India are darker.