In Chapter 10 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem and Scout are practicing with their air-rifles, and Atticus, their father, tells them to shoot cans instead of practicing on birds. However, if they have to shoot birds, he tells them to shoot bluejays, but says that "it's a sin to shoot mockingbirds." Scout is confused about what Atticus means, and she asks Miss Maudie, who says:
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird" (page 93; page numbers vary by edition).
Miss Maudie means that mockingbirds are the essence of innocence. They don't prey on anything, and their main purpose is to create beautiful music for people to enjoy. Miss Maudie reiterates that it's wrong to kill anything so innocent.
The mockingbird is a symbol for characters in the book. For example, Boo Radley is a harmless man who largely isolates himself inside his house. The townspeople, including initially Jem and Scout, believe he is creepy and perhaps evil, but in reality, he is harmless and entirely innocent. In that way, he is similar to a mockingbird. Tom Robinson, the African-American man who Atticus defends against charges of rape, is also innocent. He is only targeted because of his race, while in reality, he is an honest, well-meaning man. He is also like a mockingbird, and the theme of the book is that it is sinful to target such innocent people simply because they are in weak positions in society, much as the mockingbird is an easy target for shooting.
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