BRITISH BIRDS« 
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tinous fubflance with which the fliell is covered, and 
which keeps it firmly in its place until the young 
is produced. The egg of this Auk is three inches 
long, of a greenifli white colour, irregularly mark- 
ed with dark fpots. They are gathered, with other 
kinds, in great numbers, by the neighbouring in- 
habitants, from the rocky promontories in vari- 
ous parts of the Britifh ifles, but particularly in 
the north, where the men who are accuftomed to 
gather thefe eggs, are let down over the precipices 
by ropes, which are tied to, or held by, their com- 
panions above. 
The foregoing figure and defcription were taken 
from a fpecimen in perfect plumage, ftiot on Jar- 
row-Slake, near the mouth of the Tyne, in May, 
by the late Mr Thomas Walton, of Farnacres, to 
whofe memory, for many favours of the fame kind, 
the author feels a large debt of gratitude. 
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