The purpose of the present study of the herpetofauna was to obtain additional information regarding the vertebrates of Denton County, and to produce a well-preserved, cataloged collection of the amphibians and reptiles for the Museum of Zoology, North Texas State University. An understanding of the vertebrate life of the county also involves an investigation of the habitats within the county that may, in part, count for the distribution of these animals. It is well recognized that the environmental areas of the county have altered vastly during the last one hundred years. This alteration is due largely to agriculture and industry. However, there are adequate numbers of natural environments, as well as newly created ones that may contribute to the distribution of the vertebrates at the present time. Therefore, the problem not only concerned the collection of specimens, but also the identification, abundance classification, general habitat classifications, and county distribution.

This thesis describes the present nature of one facet of some of the flood plain forest stands in Denton County, Texas. The specific purpose was to demonstrate the presence or absence of difference between the Celtis laevigata (commonly known as the hackberry, southern hackberry or sugarberry) populations in stands on Denton Creek and Elm Fork of the Trinity River.

"As a means of defining the purpose of the problem, the following objectives were considered: (1) to list the species of birds observed in Denton and neighboring counties; (2) to assign a descriptive status to each species; (3) to estimate the relative abundance of each species (4) to annotate the list with data from other sources, when additional data provide a more accurate and complete description of the status of the species in Denton County; (5) to designate the section of the county in which each species was most frequently observed; and (6) to briefly summarize the changes in bird populations during the period 1950-1956, and to suggest some hypotheses which help explain these changes." -- leaf 6.