Mr. Babe and I did the Alcatraz tour when we were in San Fran in the 90s. It was a very interesting tour, and the park rangers do a good job.

They did tell us that Robert Stroud, the Birdman of Alcatraz, was nothing like the character Burt Lancaster played in the film. He was a nasty and violent man who actually did the bulk of his research in Leavenworth. He was a pimp and a murderer, and eventually used some of his lab equipment, which he was allowed for his work with canaries, to construct a still. I believe that's when he was transferred to Alcatraz.