  We report the observation of two types of Sommerfeld precursors (or
forerunners) on the surface of a layer of mercury. When the fluid depth
increases, we observe a transition between these two precursor surface waves in
good agreement with the predictions of asymptotic analysis. At depths thin
enough compared to the capillary length, high frequency precursors propagate
ahead of the ''main signal'' and their period and amplitude, measured at a
fixed point, increase in time. For larger depths, low frequency ''precursors''
follow the main signal with decreasing period and amplitude. These behaviors
are understood in the framework of the analysis first introduced for linear
transient electromagnetic waves in a dielectric medium by Sommerfeld and
Brillouin [1].
