It's hard to make out (I had to come home and check the website) but this was painted in color. The two male pheasants (at the foot of the gnarled tree on the left and to his left) with colorful plumage and red necks at lower left must have stood out against the wintry colors of snow, bare and dried branches and white collared crows. (Download the image from the site and zoom in to see the splashes of color.) The caption suggested the crows might have represented opportunists serving the Mongols who had recently conquered China, banishing the educated ru who traditionally filled the civil service.
