CHARACTERISTICS AND IDENTITY OF LAKE SALMON. 109 



Concerning the 'Habitat of Sebago salmon' Atkins wrote (1880, p. 775-776): 'Lake 

 Sebago, the principal haunt of the salmon in this district, is the second largest body of 

 fresh water in Maine. It has an area of about sixty square miles. . . . Sebago Lake 

 discharges its waters into the Presumpscot River, which empties into Casco Bay near 

 Portland. The entire length of this river is about twenty-two miles. It descends rapidly, 

 having a total fall of 247 [now 262] feet between the lake and the sea, yet in its natural 

 condition there was no impediment to the free passage of fish up and down. . . . For 

 many years, however, the river has been obstructed by many high mill-dams, which 

 have entirely prevented the ascent of fish. The descent is of course still open, and the 

 fresh-water salmon are occasionally taken on all parts of the river. 



'The principal affluent of Sebago Lake is Songo River, which drains the country lying 

 to the north. The Songo River itself is very short, forming merely the connecting link 

 between Sebago Lake and an extensive chain of ponds (so-called) above. . . . The 

 Songo itself affords no spawning-ground for the salmon. . . . Besides Songo River 

 there is but one other stream known to be a breeding-ground for the salmon inhabiting 

 Sebago Lake, namely, Northwest River. ... It is also currently reported that the 

 salmon spawn on gravelly bars and beaches in the lake itself. This is not improbable. . . . 

 Besides Sebago Lake itself, the same variety of salmon inhabit Long Pond, the most 

 considerable body of water drained by Songo River, eleven miles long but quite narrow, 

 having an area of nine or ten square miles.' 



Since the foregoing was written many changes have taken place in this region, but 

 most of the description of its waters will fit present conditions. The Presumpscot River 

 has been greatly modified in the last 30 years. A high dam prevents a flow of water 

 into the old river bed, the water being diverted into a canal some three miles long lead- 

 ing to a power station. It empties into a pond, a mile long, more or less, with another 

 dam. In several years of observations at Sebago Lake no salmon were even seen spawn- 

 ing on the beaches. But they are known to spawn on a gravelly shoal below White's 

 Bridge. About all the salmon taken for artificial propagation are now netted in a pool 

 in Jordan River, which flows from Panther Pond into the head of Jordan Bay of Sebago 

 Lake. A state hatchery is located at that place, in the village of Rajonond. Crooked 

 River, which joins the Songo at Songo Lock, used to be the principal breeding place of 

 the salmon of Sebago Lake. It is said that some salmon still ascend this river, but they 

 are not taken there for propagation as in former years. 



Views Concerning the Characteristics and Identity of Lake Salmon. 



In a letter to Professor Baird, dated September, 1873, Dr. HamUn (1874, p. 354) of 

 Bangor, said: 'The Salmo Gloveri is nothing but a parr. I examined the fish several years 

 before Girard saw his specimen, and recognized it as the young of the migratory salmon. 

 They have disappeared from Union River since the extinction of the salmon'. 



If this were true Salmo gloveri would become a synonym of Salmo salar and not a 

 name for the Reed's Pond (Green Lake) salmon. 



