  The generalized Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) and Miles mechanisms of the water wave
generation by wind are investigated for two-layer piece-wise linear model of
the wind profile. It is shown by asymptotic expansions in small air-to-water
density ratio that two mechanisms of the instability operate in quite different
scales. Miles' short waves are generated by weak winds, in particular, Miles'
regime is responsible for initiation of the instability at the minimum wind
speed, while the generalized KH regime dominates at strong winds and raises
moderately-short waves.
