The Birdman of Alcatraz. Imprisoned for murder at age 18, Stroud spent over 54 years in jail (47 of them in isolation!) where he became a self-educated authority on canaries and bird diseases, publishing Stroud's Digest of the Diseases of Birds in 1942. Also a self-taught legal scholar, Stroud wrote an exhaustive history of the federal legal system. ALS signed 'As ever, Bob, Robert Stroud number 594,' one page both sides, 8 x 10.25, August 12, 1948. Letter to his friend Fred with some interesting bird content. In part, 'I do not think the red bird will ever be obtained as a mutation from the pure canary. In four hundred years of breeding no mutation of yellow to red has ever occurred. Red feathers are a protective feature in tropical birds, as they protect the bird from the strong rays of the sun. Birds kept under strong sunlight for enough generations might mutate in that direction, but I don't think so.' In fine condition, with rusty paper clip mark to top edge, a light shade of toning and expected folds. RRAuction COA.
