Victorian threats
Despite the fact they seldom weigh more than 2oz (57g), skylarks were once eaten in large quantities. “A land where the larks fall ready roasted” was an old saying, equivalent to “a land of milk and honey”. They were especially popular in early winter, when migrant flocks were widespread and the individual birds had fattened up over the summer. Mrs Beeton, in her 1861 Book of Household Management, included recipes for nine skylarks stuffed and baked with beef, bacon and shallots. They would have cost her a shilling and sixpence (approximately £35 today) for a dozen. Thousands were trapped on the Sussex downs near Brighton, and heaths in Bedfordshire. They were caught in nets, usually at night. Bright lights were used to dazzle them into inaction, and cow bells rung loudly to frighten them into crouching, an instinctive response to danger. Leadenhall, in London, was the main market, and early in the Victorian period, it would handle as many as 400,000 a year. By the end of Queen Victoria’s reign, conservation efforts, and possibly declining numbers, saw skylark as a table item restricted to special occasions. For example, a pie containing 300 marked the opening of the Forth Bridge in 1890. In the 19th century, the best male singers were caught for the cage bird market, fetching as much as 15 shillings each (approximately £250 today). Fighting the terrible conditions skylarks were kept in while awaiting sale was one of the early battles of the fledgling Society for the Protection of Birds, founded in 1891. It eventually became the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the RSPB.