162 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
Bald Mountain pond [map 2, r]. This pond was the richest 
in aquatic life of any single body of water about Old Forge, 
but it was three miles distant, up hill most of the way, and there 
was no boat upon it nor shelter near it. Its banks were difficult 
of access and built on treacherous sphagnum where footings 
were very insecure. But its attractiveness was so great that 
we hauled a boat to it and spent several days upon it; and we 
returned to it a number of times afterward, by boat to First 
lake and a climb up the hill to the ledge where it nestles against 
the foot of the mountain from which it takes its name. 
It is but a narrow strip of black water less than half a mile 
long, a mere dilation of the mountain brook that spreads out and 
fills a gutter in the rocky slope. From the pond, the brook emerges 
again to descend in a succession of cascades and numerous windings 
in and out among fern clad boulders, until it enters the second 
lake of the Fulton chain through a miniature bottom land marsh. 
From the side of the pond the long mountain ridge rises steep 
and forest clad, and at either end there is a miniature sphagnum 
meadow decked with orchids and cotton grass and bordered by pale 
green tamaracks, backed by dark hemlocks and balsam firs. Lum- 
bering operations have left the tops of felled hemlocks lying in its 
borders half submerged. ‘The floating leaves of yellow water lilies 
thickly cover its surface wherever the water is not too deep for 
the long stems to reach bottom. 
In these lily beds there was a remarkable abundance of the red 
newt (Diemyctylus viridescens);a dozen of them could 
be seen at once almost anywhere on looking down among the 
tangled stems. I captured a number of them and made an exami- 
nation of their food and found that they had all been feeding 
exclusively on a small bivalve mollusk that was common upon the 
pond bottom. 
Almost equally noteworthy for abundance (as well as for the size 
attained) were the big red leeches (Haemopsis grandis) 
which could be seen undulating through the water anywhere along 
shore. This pond has been famed for its trout fishing and it is 
lccally reported that the trout feed freely on these leeches. We 
were desirous, therefore, of verifying this report by a study of the 
trout food, and the hatchery staff made an effort to take trout for 
examination and used both line and seines for that purpose, but 
without success. No trout were obtained, nor did we see any sign 
that trout were present in the pond. Perhaps it is now fished out. 
