A book containing excerpts from *kabuki 歌舞伎 plays, used by amateur actors for recitation practice. A type of *kusazōshi 草双紙. They were published from the 17th to 19th century, primarily in Edo. Originally, books of lines from a play were called serifu zukushi せりふ尽し (speeches from various plays) but became more commonly called ōmuseki (parrot rock) after the 1770's. The term originated when an Osaka man used the comparison of ōmu-ishi (a different reading of the characters for ōmuseki) or parrot rock in different provinces to explain the gestures, bodily movements and vocal characteristics of the actors. The parrot rock was a formation of stones which would cause ones words to echo (ie. as a parrot talks). In the earliest examples, the cover *hyōshi 表紙 only included a title, but eventually actor portraits *yakusha-e 役者絵 designed by *Torii-ha 鳥居派 artists began to appear. Later, *Utagawa-ha 歌川派 artists also designed the covers. Ōmuseki are useful resources for the study of actor portraiture and costumes.