八哥报喜Mynas Bring Good News

An old plum tree runs across the middle of the scroll from the left, its trunk rubbed in with pale ochre and ink, its knots dotted in black, gnarled and ancient. Branches spring up and hang down from it, crowded with pink blossoms washed in light rouge, their stamens flicked out in fine dark lines: full, but never confused. Five mynas perch on the tree. One stands on an upper branch, neck stretched as it calls; four gather on the old trunk, looking down or up, with yellow beaks and feet and feathers in black and gray, the ink varied to show how soft and ruffled they are.

The poem at the upper right, dated 2026, tells of plum blossom braving wind and snow and mynas hopping in to bring good news. The plum is the first flower to open in the cold, the herald of spring, and the myna, which can mimic human speech, is a bird of glad tidings in folk belief.

老梅一株，主干自左侧横贯画心，以淡赭淡墨皴擦，节疤数处浓墨点出，苍老古拙。梅枝自干上下分出，或仰或垂，粉梅缀满枝头，花瓣以胭脂淡染，花蕊以浓墨细笔挑出，繁而不乱。八哥五只栖于梅上，一只立于上枝，引颈而鸣，四只聚于老干，或俯或仰，黄喙黄爪，羽色黑灰相间，以墨色浓淡写其蓬松之态，生动可喜。

右上自题诗句，写梅花盛开、傲对风雪，八哥跳跃来报喜，款署丙午年。梅花凌寒先开，为报春之花；八哥能效人语，民间以为报喜之鸟。梅开鸟鸣，正是喜讯盈门、春光在望。