Barn Swallow in Costa Rica in July

A Sparrow Hawk in Costa Rica in July.-On June 24, 194S, while passing through a pasture in this vicinity--the upper Ttrraba Valley of Costa Rica--I heard the unmistakable call of the Sparrow Hawk (Cerchneis sparveria). The following day, in the same pasture, I enjoyed an excellent view of the bird. It was in exceptionally dull plumage, resembling an immature female, with the head markings very pale, the back and wing-coverts dull grayish brown with dusky bars. What at once took my eye was its nearly tailless state. Its tail feathers were just growing out, and the longest appeared to be only an inch or two in length. Despite this handicap, it flew well. I saw it again on July 9, but after that met it no more, although it had been in the pasture behind my house and I kept watch for it. Races of the Sparrow Hawk nest in northern Central America and again in northern South America; but, strangely enough, the species is not known as a breeding bird in the intermediate territory of Gosta Rica. In this country it is a common and widespread winter visitant from the north, arriving about the middle of October (once recorded on September 29) and lingering until early April (latest previous record April 15). In 1945, I saw the last in this vicinity on April 1, then no more until I met the tailless bird on June 24. I think it likely that the same physiological derangement that caused the bird to be without a normally developed tail at .this date, was also responsible for its failure to migrate. I do not believe that accidental loss of the tail caused it to remain behind; for had it been deprived of its tail feathers in early April, at the time it should have departed northward, a normal bird--if I may rely upon observations on other species-would have produced a new tail in less than two months.--ALEXANDER F. SKUTGH, Quizarrd de Pdrez Zeleddn, Costa Rica.