sentences:  Due to its insectivorous habit, farmers believed the elepaio to be the incarnation of Lea's sister goddess, Hina-puku-ai, who protected food plants and was a patron of agriculture.Although deforestation for agriculture destroyed large areas of habitat, the elepaio managed to adapt well to the initial settlement.Thus, its population was large enough to withstand the additional pressures that came about with Western colonization of the islands.