There are 3 'meanings / connotations' of the word 'mockingbird' which give it SIGNIFICANCE in the English language. #1) A 'Mockingbird' is a song-bird which sings particularly pleasant and varied 'songs'. It can imitate the calls, songs, or song phrases of over thirty bird species. Mockingbirds were popular caged birds during Victorian times and have been called "America's nightingale". They were declared the Texas state bird in 1927. Ask any Texan, and you will no doubt learn that the mockingbird has the prettiest song of any bird native to North America. That's perhaps the chief reason the "mocker" was adopted as the state bird. #2) A mockingbird can sing ‘a lovely soft whisper song’ which seems to suggest contentment. Because of its beautiful song, and the fact that 'don't say a word' and 'buy you a mockingbird' RHYME, it was the 'perfect' bird to be named in the famous lullaby "Hush Little Baby" which makes many promises to the child if it will only be quiet and go to sleep. Hush little baby, don't say a word, Papa's going to buy you a mockingbird And if that mockingbird don't sing, Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring. #3) There is a 'best-selling' book called "To Kill a Mockingbird" written by Harper Lee in 1960. It was an immediate bestseller and won great critical acclaim, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961. The book deals with deep and sensitive social issues and tells the story of a 'gentle, peaceful' man who is falsely accused of rape. In this book, the mockingbird is used as a powerful symbol of justice. An old folk tale claims that when Texas legislators adopted the mockingbird as the state bird in 1927, they wrote a resolution describing the bird as “a fighter for the protection of his home, falling, if need be, in its defense, like any true Texan…” That legend, more than anything else, may be why it would be a sin for a Texan to kill a mockingbird. ----------------- I hope this helps. peter.lx

I figured out that this name of bird is used in some phrases .