I think we need WAV back in to enlighten us further.

As for Wren Hunting - one theory has its roots going back the notorious Bird Laws of 1807 when the peasantry were forbidden on pain of execution to kill any bird bigger than a wren during the winter months Another relates it to the Great Plague when dead wrens were worn as nosegays to counteract the stench of human death - compared to which a decomposing wren is sweet, though quite pungent. Wrens were hunted in the 1950s so that their feathers might be used to pluck the strings of E. Citterns when said instruments were employed to accompany the singing of Christmas Carols in sweet falsetto, it being also believed that the wren was Christ's Bird - Sweet Jenny Maudlin as they call her in the fields of Northumberland. Always a creature of good omen, to kill one on the Feast o' Stephen is regarded as potently talismanic, though at other times of year it's taboo. As a custom I would say it's harmless fun for kids of all ages - we did it as part of the Comprehensive Folk Arts Curriculum, circa 1971, which stressed the cultural & historical (and traditional) importance of ritual animal sacrifice by way of engaging with both enironment and heritage. That it's no longer taught in schools is Political Correctness Gone Mad.