This tune has probably had more names than any that I know. It was called "New York Gals", "Syracuse Gals", "Rochester Gals" and probably a lot of other towns in between until the minstrel troop got to Buffalo and the name "Buffalo Gals" apparently stuck. The song was written and published as "Lubly Fan" in 1844 by the blackface minstrel John Hodges, who performed as "Cool White."
When I was very young, I would sometimes sit and watch the birds with my Aunt Helen. She would sing a little song that went:
    Little birdie in the tree,
    In the tree, in the tree,
    Little birdie in the tree,
    Sing a song for me.
I don't know if she made it up herself or if it was something that her generation knew when they were young. I forgot all about it except that it would occasionally come back to me in the Spring when the birds started to sing. I recently realized that the tune for her song was the verse of "Buffalo Gals".
I play this tune in a medley with:
    "Buffalo Girls" in the Tunes section.
    "The Girl I Left Behind Me" in the English Songs section.