Sentence:  [W]e were highly entertained with the antics of two stoats, who had left their hiding places to commence nocturnal depredations; [...] in the course of a few minutes the whirring of a <WSD>nide</WSD> of pheasants convinced us these little vermin had marked them as prey. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A nest of pheasants.