In a message dated 13/11/02 02:15:24 GMT Standard Time, donkirk@covad.net writes: << thought the "Yardbird" nickname came from the fact that he spent >some time in jail. >> Hi , certainly `doing bird` is an English expression for time in jail. Presumably Cockney rhyming slang. Bird lime= time, hence `bird`. Just a thought. Cheers PatL