Menu icon not displayed in Action Bar - Android

Question

The menu item called "action_settings" is displayed on my Nexus 5 but not with the gear icon I specified in XML, with an android option icon that I didn't specify. It is not displayed at all on a Galaxy S2. Anyone know why this strange behaviour is happening? The rest of my menus show as expected. Thanks.

EDIT It's probably because it doesn't fit, because when I click the phones menu button it goes straight to the 2 checkboxes I have in the action_settings menu item. But half the action bar is still free to be used :/

Edit the icon showing on my Nexus 5 is called an "overflow" icon. 3 vertical squares. Perhaps suggesting too many actionbar icons.

@Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.dressing_room, menu);
        return true;
    }   

@Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        int itemId = item.getItemId();

        switch (itemId) {
            case R.id.menu_femaleHat :  addClothes(R.id.menu_femaleHat);
                     break;
            case R.id.menu_femalePants:  addClothes(R.id.menu_femalePants);
                     break;
            case R.id.menu_femaleTop:  addClothes(R.id.menu_femaleTop);
                     break;
            case R.id.menu_maleHat:  addClothes(R.id.menu_maleHat);
                     break;
            case R.id.menu_malePants:  addClothes(R.id.menu_malePants);
                     break;
            case R.id.menu_maleTop:  addClothes(R.id.menu_maleTop);
                     break;
            case R.id.menuMaleHair:  addClothes(R.id.menuMaleHair);
                     break;
            case R.id.menuFemaleHair:  addClothes(R.id.menuFemaleHair);
                     break;
            case R.id.menuMaleAccessories:  addClothes(R.id.menuMaleAccessories);
                     break;
            case R.id.menuFemaleAccessories:  addClothes(R.id.menuFemaleAccessories);
                     break;
            case R.id.action_save: saveClicked();// cropImage();
                     break;
            case R.id.action_cancel: goToStartScreen();// cropImage();
                     break;
            case R.id.uniformScale:
                changeAnisotropic(item);
                    break;
            case R.id.rotation:
                changeRotate(item);
                    break;
            default: Log.d("wrong menu","Invalid option");
                     break;
        }
        return super.onOptionsItemSelected(item);
    }

<item
    android:id="@+id/menu_sticker"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_add"
        android:title="Add Sticker">
        <menu>
    <item
        android:id="@+id/menu_male"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="Male">
        <menu>
        <item
            android:id="@+id/menu_add_clothes"
            android:title="Add Clothes">
            <menu>
                <item
                android:id="@+id/menu_maleHat"
                android:title="Hat"/>
                <item
                android:id="@+id/menu_maleTop"
                android:title="Top"/>
                <item
                android:id="@+id/menu_malePants"
                android:title="Pants"/>
            </menu>
        </item>
        <item
        android:id="@+id/menuMaleAccessories"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="Add Accessories">
        </item>
        <item
            android:id="@+id/menuMaleHair"
            android:showAsAction="always"
            android:title="Add Hair">
        </item>
        </menu>
    </item>
    <item
        android:id="@+id/menu_female"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="Female">
        <menu>
        <item
            android:id="@+id/menu_add_clothes"
            android:title="Add Clothes">
            <menu>
                <item
                android:id="@+id/menu_femaleHat"
                android:title="Hat"/>
                <item
                android:id="@+id/menu_femaleTop"
                android:title="Top"/>
                <item
                android:id="@+id/menu_femalePants"
                android:title="Pants"/>
            </menu>
        </item>
        <item
        android:id="@+id/menuFemaleAccessories"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="Add Accessories">
        </item>
        <item
            android:id="@+id/menuFemaleHair"
            android:showAsAction="always"
            android:title="Add Hair">
        </item>
        </menu>
    </item>
    </menu>
 </item>

    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_settings"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="Sticker Settings"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_gear">
            <group android:checkableBehavior="all">
                <item android:id="@+id/uniformScale"
                    android:title="Enable Re-sizing"
                    android:checked="true" />
                <item android:id="@+id/rotation"
                    android:title="Enable Rotation"
                    android:checked="false" />
            </group>
    </item>

    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_save"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="@string/action_save"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_save">
    </item>

    <item
        android:id="@+id/action_cancel"
        android:showAsAction="always"
        android:title="Cancel"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_action_cancel">
    </item>

Answer 1

Did you check this

I have 3 menu icons on the menu bar

For the purposes of this answer, I am assuming that by "menu bar" you are referring to the action bar.

but everytime it only shows 2 icons, the last one is in nowhere

The last one is available by pressing the MENU button, for devices (or emulators) that have an off-screen MENU button.

there is enough space for 3 icons, why only 2 are shown?

Presumably because Android disagrees with your assessment of whether or not there is enough space for 3 icons.

if the system thinks the space is not enough for the 3rd icon, why doesn't 
it combine the 2nd and 3rd icon into an overflow menu?

I have no idea why you think forcing the 2nd icon -- which, by your admission, fits -- into the overflow menu would be a good idea. The 3rd menu item is in the overflow menu, which is accessed via the MENU button on devices that have one or a three-vertical-dots button on the action bar for devices that lack a MENU button

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