The Club welcomes the following new members who have recently joined the Club: Mr E. Lomruveol (Poland), Mr M. Greco (Italy) and Ms V. Bentley (UK).
It is with regret that the deaths of the following members have been recorded: I. R. Bishop (1994 and Committee 2003–07), Ms D. Breese (2002), J. W. Nash (1986) and T. R. Smeeton (2002).

Members are reminded that subscriptions for 2008 were due on 1 January and are kindly asked to check that Standing Orders are recorded at the correct amount (£20 per annum).

The 946th meeting of the Club was held on Tuesday 25 September 2007, in the Sherfield Building Annexe, Imperial College, London. Twenty-nine members and 18 guests were ­present.

Members attending were: Cdr. M. B. CASEMENT RN (Chairman), D. N. S. ALLEN, Miss H. BAKER, Sir D. G. BANNERMAN, Mrs D. M. BRADLEY, D. R. CALDER, Dr M. J. CARSWELL, Dr N. J. COLLAR, Dr J. H. COOPER, Earl of CRANBROOK (Speaker), E. C. DICKINSON, J. B. FISHER, F. M. GAUNTLETT, A. GIBBS, Revd. T. W. GLADWIN, D. GRIFFIN, K. HERON, Dr C. F. MANN, D. J. MONTIER, Mrs A. M. MOORE, P. J. OLIVER, R. C. PRICE, Dr R. P. PRY^S-JONES, R. J. PRYTHERCH, P. J. SELLAR, S. A. H. STATHAM, C. W. R. STOREY, P. J. WILKINSON and M. W. ­WOODCOCK.

Guests attending were: Lady M. P. BANNERMAN, M. BRADLEY, Mrs J. CALDER, Mrs C. R. CASEMENT, Mrs B. H. FISHER, Sir A. C. GALSWORTHY, A. GATHORNE-HARDY, Mrs M. H. GAUNTLETT, Mrs J. GLADWIN, I. GORRINGE, Ms B. HAMMOND-GIBBS, Mrs M. MONTIER, Dr A. POLASZEK, J. SIMPSON, C. E. TAN, Mrs F. WESTON, Dr D. WHITELAW and Mrs B. J. WOODCOCK.

After dinner, under the title Swiftlets: retrospect and prospects, Lord Cranbrook recounted his 50-year involvement with the Collocaliini (Apodidae). The 27 currently recognised species range from the Mascerenes to the south-west Pacific, with biodiversity peaks in the Philippines, New Guinea, and Malaysia and western Indonesia. The Himalayan population of one species is migratory; others are resident, though individuals do disperse long distances. Their taxonomy is complicated by high levels of morphological similarity. In Sarawak, in 1956, in the inland caves four nest types were known but only three species had been distinguished. Evidence that the type of nest was taxonomically significant resolved nomenclatural confusion. In 1956, Novick in Sri Lanka working with Indian Swiftlet Collocalia unicolor and Medway in Sarawak with the Black-nest Swiftlet Aerodramus maximus, independently showed that they orientate in darkness by echolocation. Based on subsequent demonstrations of specific variation in the capacity to echolocate, in 1972 Brooke proposed the present generic classification, separating Collocalia, Aerodramus and Hydrochous. It is now known that, uniquely in the genus, Collocalia troglodytes also echolocates. Sonographic analyses show that all echolocating calls consist of short bursts of mixed frequencies concentrated around 2–5 kHz. Trials show that the echolocating call is useful only for dark-orientation and swiftlets depend on vision to hunt.

Breeding studies in Sarawak (around 03oN) reveal three annual peaks in laying by Black-nest Swiftlets, with June–August witnessing minimal activity. A parallel study of White-nest Swiftlet Aerodramus (f.) vestitus showed that laying commenced in September, with three distinct annual peaks and a quiescent period in June–mid August. Swiftlets lay one or two eggs. Incubation period and subsequent nestling life are long and variable: Black-nest Swiftlet, nest life (as egg and nestling) c.87 days, White-nest 70 days, Edible-nest Swiftlet Aerodramus fuciphagus germani 69 days and White-bellied Swiftlet Collaocalia esculenta 64 days. Slowed metabolic rate would account for the long duration and variability of these life ­stages.

The nest cement of swiftlets (the edible component) is produced by paired salivary glands, which become engorged when active and degenerate at other times. In Sarawak, a single annual moult begins in the primary tract in November and continues progressively through the year. Peaks of feather replacement and breeding alternate, emphasising the narrow balance of resources and metabolic demands in the humid equatorial environment. Studies reveal that swiftlets feed selectively with variation in prey reflecting the available resource. All can be understood as selective adaptations to the safe nesting site provided by the darkness of caves. But, due to human exploitation, no cave is now ‘safe’. Despite many regulations for the exploitation of natural colonies of edible-nest species across south-east Asia, over-exploitation is rife. Theft is a severe problem for cave owners or managers. A new phenomenon is the emergence of ‘house-farming’. Although for more than a century swiftlets have spontaneously used man-made structures, recent developments have been spectacular. Initially, operators in Java used Linchi Swiftlets Collocalai linchi to foster Aerodramus fuciphagus eggs and young. This led to the transportation of eggs to places beyond the natural range of this taxon. In the past two decades, there has been a revolution in the behaviour of the swiftlets themselves. So many have now been reared in houses that they seek houses as nest sites. Birds’-nest capitalists build vast swiftlet ‘condos’, where the constant repetition of recordings of the birds’ calls attracts new colonists. This phenomenon merits scientific input to understand the biological background and to assist in the safe and sustainable management of the living resource, the swiftlets themselves.

The 947th meeting of the Club was held on Tuesday 6 November 2007, in the Rector’s Residence, 170 Queen’s Gate, Imperial College, London. Twenty-three members and 12 guests were present.

Members attending were: Cdr. M. B. CASEMENT RN (Chairman), Miss H. BAKER, K. F. BETTON, Mrs D. M. BRADLEY, D. R. CALDER, Dr J. H. COOPER, Dr C. T. FISHER, D. J. FISHER (Speaker), F. M. GAUNTLETT, A. GIBBS, D. GRIFFIN, Dr J. P. HUME, R. R. LANGLEY, D. J. MONTIER, Mrs M. N. MULLER, R. C. PRICE, Dr R. P. PRY^S-JONES, R. J. PRYTHERCH, P. J. SELLAR, S. A. H. STATHAM, C. W. R. STOREY, M. J. WALTON and P. J. WILKINSON.

Guests attending were: Mrs G. BISHOP, D. BRADLEY, M. BRADLEY, Mrs J. CALDER, Mrs C. R. CASEMENT, Mrs M. H. GAUNTLETT, Ms B. HAMMOND-GIBBS, Mrs M. MONTIER, C. A. MULLER, N. PEACE, E. PRICE and W. PRICE.

After dinner, David Fisher gave a talk on the Birds of Australia and how its avifauna relates to that of the rest of the world. David reviewed the families of birds that occur in Australia by showing photographs he had taken of one species from each family, and explained how many species in each of these families occur in Australia. Following this, he explained the various theories that had been put forward to explain the evolution of the Australian avifauna, including the most recent and most convincing, which is that the bulk of Australia’s avifauna evolved there from the families that had inhabited Gondwana prior to the break up of th ancient continent. David went on to explain and illustrate that this is why the closest living relatives of many distinctive Australian birds such Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae, Magpie Goose Anseranas semipalmata, Plains-wanderer Pedionomus torquatus, megapodes (Megapodiidae) and frogmouths (Podargidae), are found in South America.