Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.
At five thirty in the goddamn morning it’s not evil to shoot the fuckers. 
I’ve never shot any bird of any species. I’ve never needed to. But then, I’ve always lived in cities.
A farmer has reasons for shooting some at some birds- to him, crows are pests who threaten his crops. Nobody blames him for that.
But shooting a songbird that doesn’t pose any threat to his crops seems like sheer meanness. THAT, I think, is what made it seem like a sin.