Wave development, using Rayleigh's 1880 model of barotropic, inviscid and i
ncompressible flow, with a mean zonal wind which is linearly sheared betwee
n two edges, is described in terms of the interaction between two counter-p
ropagating Rossby waves (CRWs). Although the solutions described by this ap
proach could also be described by a sum of the normal modes originally obta
ined by Rayleigh, we offer a CRW description of Rayleigh's model because it
provides a useful pedagogical framework for illustrating, in a precise and
quantifiable manner, the interacting Rossby wave view of instability. A CR
W interpretation of a modified Version of the Rayleigh model, consisting of
a jet-like flow featuring two strips of vorticity with opposite signs, is
also given.