Start transients of liquids flowing through sharp-edged cylindrical nozzles in a feedline nozzle assembly are investigated. A quasi-steady regime of reduced flow rate is shown to Precede the full flow when the nozzle flow velocities are near the threshold values corresponding to the inception of cavitation. The duration of the diminished quasi-steady flow is further seen to correspond to the characteristic response time of the nozzle-feedline assembly, The disturbances generated during the characteristic response time of the system are shown to advance the onset of the cavitated flow and give rise to the initial phase of reduced flow rate.